Zelensky meets UN chief Antonio Guterres in Kyiv

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials on Thursday in Kyiv as Russia attacked the capital with cruise missiles.

The head of the U.N. was in the city as it was bombarded as he sought to improve the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country.

During his multi-day Europe trip, Guterres had secured an agreement "in principle" from Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to allow the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross to be involved in evacuating civilians from an iron and steel plant in the besieged southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, and was in Kyiv to further that agreement.

During a press conference Thursday following talks with Zelensky, Guterres said that as he was speaking there were "intense discussions" ongoing to move that proposal forward.

President Zelensky added that Ukraine is ready for urgent talks to evacuate people from Mariupol, including from the Azovstal plant, but appeared sceptical over Putin's agreement with the U.N.

"We see that despite the words of the Russian president about the alleged cessation of hostilities in Mariupol, the territory of the Azovstal plant is under barbaric bombing by the Russian army," Zelensky said. "And this continued even during the talks of the secretary-general in Moscow."

During his trip to Ukraine, Guterres visited Bucha, Irpin and Borodyanka in addition to meeting with Zelnesky and other Ukrainian leaders, including foreign minister Dmytro Kulbea who chastised Russia for attacking Kyiv while the U.N. secretary general and Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov were visiting.