A second round of talks between Moscow and Kyiv focusing on a ceasefire was expected on Thursday, a week after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, MIA informs.

The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said the Ukrainian side was on its way, Interfax agency reported. Both sides had agreed on the Brest region in western Belarus as the venue for the talks and the Russian military planned a “security corridor” to allow the Ukrainian delegation’s passage.

The Ukrainian side had confirmed it agreed to hold discussions but said little else. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, however, had urged Russia to declare a ceasefire in the hard-hit eastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy to allow civilians to reach safety.

The first negotiations on Monday at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border brought no tangible results. Russian attacks continued to pummel Ukraine on Wednesday, and several explosions were registered in Kyiv early Thursday, triggering air raid sirens.

Eight people including two children were killed in an air raid on the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium near Kharkiv, local authorities said according to Ukrainian media.

The details could not be independently verified. In the second-largest city of Kharkiv, two missiles hit an administrative building and a cathedral was also reportedly damaged. There was no information about injured people.

In Korosten, north of the city of Zhytomyr, authorities said two people died in an airstrike at a large checkpoint and five were injured.