Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin says 'certain positive movements' in negotiations

Inflation rates in coming months will be higher than they would have been had Russia not invaded Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.

When asked by ABC News White House correspondent Mary Bruce how high the Biden Administration expects inflation rates to climb, Psaki said the energy and fuel prices will go up, but the increase will be "temporary and long-lasting."

While inflation rates are expected to decrease by the end of the year, "There is also no question that inflation may be higher for the next few months than it would have been without the Russia," Psaki said.

"What our focus is on now is doing everything we can to mitigate and reduce those prices and ensure there isn't a longer-term impact," Psaki said. "So I can't make new projections for you from here other than to convey that, yes, it is accurate that the invasion by President Putin into Ukraine has impacted global inflation, inflation in the United States, because of the impact it's had on energy prices -- and that is a significant contributor to inflation."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

President Joe Biden spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after Turkey hosted talks between Russia and Ukraine's foreign ministers.

"President Biden expressed appreciation for Turkey’s efforts to support a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, as well as Turkey’s recent engagements with regional leaders that help promote peace and stability," the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders also discussed opportunities to strengthen their bilateral ties. In a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the call was "constructive" and confirmed it was lengthy, lasting around an hour or more.

"It is important that [Turkey] is in a facilitator position in search for a solution, in case the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepens further," Erdogan told Biden, according to Turkey's Anadolu, a state-run news agency.

"Even organizing a tripartite meeting of foreign ministers of [Turkey], Russia, and Ukraine in Antalya is a diplomatic victory by itself," he told Biden, according to the news service.

According to Anadolu, Erdogan also told Biden "it is time to lift all unjust sanctions" on Turkey's defense industry.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou and Molly Nagle

Urgent efforts are continuing to evacuate the most medically vulnerable populations out of Ukraine.

Dubbed in European media as the "Train of Hope," essentially a rolling hospital with several cars filled with beds and medical equipment, the locomotive carried child cancer patients Thursday after it left an obscure train stop along Poland’s border with Ukraine.

The children, who were visibly exhausted and accompanied by parents clearly in distress, will travel on an eight-hour journey to Gdynia, a city in northern Poland.

The train was initially set up by Poland's Ministry of Health to transport the wounded from fighting in Ukraine to hospitals in Poland. Instead, it has been used to carry hundreds of refugees, along with sick children and pregnant mothers, to Poland.

One medic told ABC News that the maiden trip two weeks ago was intended to be a training mission. But when they arrived to a sea of people, the crew decided to evacuate 600 refugees — the majority of whom were children fighting cancer, the medic said.

-ABC News' Chris Donato and Marcus Moore

Russia's Defense Ministry spokesman on Thursday claimed it did not carry out the attack on a children's hospital in Mariupol, which Ukrainian officials said killed 3 people and injured 17.

Russian officials, including its foreign minister, had earlier said they targeted the hospital, claiming it was being used as a firing position by Ukrainian nationalists.

Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman claimed that the devastating bombing was staged.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell