President Vladimir Putin said he'd sought an "open dialogue" with the West.
Almost a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout the east and south.
Putin's forces pulled out of key positions in November, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the southern port city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.
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Russian forces struck a residential neighborhood in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia early on Thursday, officials said.
Ukrainian officials released images they claim show evidence of tortures and killings in eastern Kharkiv, in areas recently reclaimed from Russia.
Authorities are investigating an alleged Russian torture chamber in the village of Pisky-Radkivski, according to Serhiy Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the national police in the region.
Bolvinov posted an image of a box of what appeared to be precious metal teeth and dentures presumably extracted from those held at the site.
Andriy Kostin, Ukraine's prosecutor general, also spoke of new evidence of torture and killings found Wednesday in the Kharkiv region.
Kostin told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a security conference in Warsaw that he had just been notified of four bodies found with signs of possible torture. He said they were believed to be civilians but an investigation was still needed.
Two bodies were found in a factory in Kupiansk with their hands bound behind their backs, while two others were found in Novoplatonivka, their hands linked by handcuffs.
During his public speech, Kostin said officials found the bodies of 24 civilians, including 13 children and one pregnant woman, who had been killed in six cars near Kupiansk. It is not clear when the discovery was made.
-ABC News' Jason Volack
Ukrainian forces continue "to make progress" in counteroffensive efforts against Russian troops along both the northeastern and southern fronts, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Wednesday in an intelligence update.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, according to the ministry, Ukrainian forces have "now consolidated a substantial area of territory east of the Oskil River," advancing up to 20 kilometres "beyond the river into Russia's defensive zone towards the supply node of the town of Svatove."
"It is highly likely that Ukraine can now strike the key Svatove-Kremina road with most of its artillery systems, further straining Russia's ability to resupply its units in the east," the ministry said. "Politically, Russian leaders will highly likely be concerned that leading Ukrainian units are now approaching the borders of Luhansk Oblast, which Russia claimed to have formally annexed last Friday."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed laws finalizing the illegal annexation of four regions of neighboring Ukraine -- more than 15% of the country's territory -- even as his military struggles to maintain control over the newly absorbed areas.
The documents completing the annexation of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions -- in defiance of international laws -- were published on a Russian government website on Wednesday morning.
Earlier this week, the Russian parliament ratified treaties making the occupied areas part of Russia. The move followed what the Kremlin called referendums in the four Ukrainian regions, which the West rejected as a sham.
The annexed areas are not all under control of Russian forces, which are battling a massive counteoffensive effort by Ukrainian troops.
