Ukraine seeks heavy weapons from U.S. at Kyiv talks - Zelenskiy

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a news conference at a metro station, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 23, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanic

KYIV (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine hoped to secure heavy weapons at talks with the U.S. secretaries of state and defence in Kyiv on Sunday, supplies that he said were vital for Ukraine to eventually retake Russian-occupied territory.

The Ukrainian leader warned that Kyiv would quit talks with Moscow if Russia destroyed "our people" surrounded in the war-torn city of Mariupol or staged referendums to create more breakaway republics on newly-occupied Ukrainian soil.