Kremlin is ready to send delegation for negotiations

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Friday that Russian advance forces have entered the northern suburb of Kyiv and residents are remaining indoors.

The Ukrainian military later claimed it had wiped out all Russian ground forces in Kyiv after exchanging fire. The Russian military hasn't released any information on that encounter.

Media reported gunshots were heard in the areas near the government building.

The Kremlin said on Friday that President Vladimir Putin is ready to send a delegation to Belarus' capital Minsk for talks with Ukraine. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader was "ready" to send a high-level delegation to Minsk "for talks with a Ukrainian delegation". Minsk was the host city of previous peace talks and agreements.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a text statement to media that Ukraine wants peace and is ready for talks with Russia, including on Ukrainian neutral status regarding NATO.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later said he was ready to have talks on the issue.

Asked about Zelensky's offer, Peskov described it on Friday as "a move in a positive direction", but he added that he could not say anything about possible talks between the two countries' leaders.

Peskov said he could not comment on whether talks would take place between Putin and Zelensky.

Saying that Moscow would analyze Zelensky's offer, Peskov added that Moscow's expectations of Kyiv remained unchanged. Moscow has long demanded guarantees that Ukraine would never join NATO or allow the bloc to deploy troops and weapons on its territory.

On Friday, a Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet was shot down over the capital. Photos from emergency services showed a two-story home on fire after fragments of an aircraft fell on it, although it was unclear whether they were from the Su-27 jet.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the country's airborne assault troops blew up a bridge over the Teteriv River at Ivankiv, about 50 kilometers north of Kyiv, in an effort to prevent a column of Russian forces from advancing toward the capital.

Russia's military said it has destroyed 118 Ukrainian military targets on the first day of its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia will retaliate against new sanctions, as the West hit Moscow with a wave of economic penalties in answer to its military actions in Ukraine.

"It goes without saying that retaliatory measures will follow," Kremlin spokesman Peskov told reporters.

"Just how symmetrical or asymmetrical they will be depends on the analysis; the restrictions have yet to be analyzed," he added.

Russia was hit with painful new sanctions on Thursday that target its two largest banks. Their assets have been frozen and the banks will be cut off from US dollar transactions. Further, state energy giant Gazprom and other major companies will not be able to get financing in Western markets.

In addition, the Western allies imposed export controls on high-tech items aimed at crippling the Russia's defense and aerospace sector, and Washington targeted another group of Russian oligarchs.

Agencies via Xinhua contributed to this story.