Russia called on the last Ukrainian troops fighting in Mariupol to lay down arms on Sunday and observe an hourslong cease-fire that it said would allow them to leave the battlefield unscathed, as it closed in on capturing the strategic port city after weeks of heavy bombardment.

Russia’s armed forces gave Ukrainian troops until noon local time to observe the terms. There was no indication by that time that the city’s defenders had capitulated…

Ukrainian President President Volodymyr Zelensky called for further negotiations to resolve the situation in Mariupol and end the bloodshed, describing conditions in the besieged city as “just inhuman.”

Russia “deliberately continues to destroy our cities, deliberately tries to destroy everyone who is there in Mariupol,” Mr. Zelensky said in a video address late Saturday. “There has not been a single day since the start of the blockade of Mariupol when we haven’t sought a solution.”