Moscow said the Russian forces will stop firing and bombardments and allow civilians to flee the two Ukrainian cities.

Russia's Defence Ministry, in a statement, said, "Today, March 5, from 10 a.m. Moscow time (07:00 GMT), the Russian side declares a ceasefire regime and opens humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha."

"Humanitarian corridors and exit routes have been agreed with the Ukrainian side," it added.

Russia's RIA news agency reported citing the city authorities, that civilians will be allowed to leave the two Ukrainian cities between 12 - 5 p.m. Moscow time (09:00-14:00 GMT) on Saturday.

Image: Twitter/Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre)

Vadim Boychenko, mayor of the strategic Ukrainian port city Mariupol, which has reportedly been 'blockaded' by the Russian troops, has said the city will begin civilian evacuation at 11 a.m. local time (09:00 GMT).

Ukraine's presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said in a tweet that evacuation corridors are being prepared in parts of Ukraine.

"In Mariupol and Volnovakha, humanitarian evacuation corridors are being prepared for opening, columns are being formed from those who are subject to evacuation. The parties temporarily ceased fire in the area of ​​the corridors," Podoliak said in his official Twitter handle.

Earlier on March 3 (Thursday), Russia and Ukraine held the second round of negotiations with no major breakthrough, though both sides had agreed on a tentative plan to create a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians safely.

After the meeting, Mykhailo Podolyak, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, said in a tweet that the second round of talks with Russia had ended but it didn’t deliver any results that Ukraine needed.

"The second round of negotiations is over. Unfortunately, the results Ukraine needs are not yet achieved. There is a solution only for the organization of humanitarian corridors," he tweeted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that a third round of talks between the negotiators of Moscow and Kyiv has been scheduled for this weekend, while a senior Western intelligence official has warned that Russia is poised to deploy up to 1,000 more mercenaries to Ukraine in the coming days and weeks, and could "bombard cities into submission".