Russia-Ukraine updates: US sanctions Russian military shipbuilder, diamond miner

Russia and Ukraine have agreed on nine humanitarian corridors to try to evacuate civilians trapped in embattled Ukrainian towns and cities on Wednesday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

But the agreement does not include a safe passage from the heart of Mariupol, Vereshchuk said in an address Wednesday, adding that she hopes people wishing to leave the besieged southeastern port city can make it to nearby Berdyansk, where humanitarian aid awaits them. She said 24 buses are on standby to transport people.

Some of the previous attempts to evacuate civilians from Mariupol have failed after Russian forces continued to shell the city, despite agreeing to temporary cease-fires.

Russia warned Wednesday that sending NATO peacekeepers to Ukraine would be "a very reckless and extremely dangerous decision."

Last week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that Poland will formally submit a proposal at the NATO summit on Thursday for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine amid Russia's invasion.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Poland's plans while speaking to reporters Wednesday.

"It would be a very reckless and extremely dangerous decision," Peskov said. "A special military operation is going on, and any possible contact by our troops with NATO troops can lead to quite clear consequences that would be hard to repair."

Russia claimed Wednesday that the United States isn't interested in the rapid progress of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

During a speech to students at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in Russia's capital, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Washington of wanting to keep Moscow and Kyiv "in a state of hostilities" for "as long as possible."

"Negotiations are difficult because the Ukrainian side seems to have expressed understanding of the things that should be agreed upon during the negotiations, constantly changing its position, refusing its own proposals," Lavrov said. "It is difficult to get rid of the impression that they are being held by the hand by their American colleagues."

He alleged "it is unprofitable" for the U.S. "that this process be completed quickly."

"They expect to continue pumping weapons to Ukraine. Provocative statements are being made," he added. "Apparently they want to keep us as long as possible in a state of hostilities."

Video has emerged showing the devastation in Ukraine's besieged city of Mariupol.

Drone footage recorded Wednesday and released by a Ukrainian right-wing paramilitary group that has been incorporated into Ukraine's National Guard shows entire neighborhoods destroyed in Mariupol. Mere shells are all that remain of buildings and smoke is still rising from some of the wreckage. The video has been verified by ABC News.

Ukrainian troops are continuing to battle persistent efforts by Russian forces to seize the strategic port city in southeastern Ukraine.

-ABC News' Fergal Gallagher