End to Ukraine-Russia war not possible without Putin meeting: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that it would not be possible to negotiate an end to the war in his country without meeting Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that it would not be possible to negotiate an end to the war in his country without meeting Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy told European public television networks such a meeting could discuss the future of occupied Ukrainian territory, but more time would be required to resolve the issue.

He also repeated his acknowledgement made earlier this month that Ukraine could not now secure NATO membership.

“I believe that until such time as we have a meeting with the president of the Russian Federation…you cannot truly understand what they are prepared to do in order to stop the war and what they are prepared to do if we are not ready for this or that compromise,” Zelenskyy said in the interview.

Zelenskyy has sought a meeting with Putin for nearly a year, but the Russian leader has refused and instead demanded the Ukrainian president resolve his country’s “civil war” with separatist territories linked to Moscow.

Since Russian troops poured into Ukraine last month, Zelenskyy has issued increasingly urgent calls for talks to end the fighting.

Last week he called for a meeting quickly so that Russia could “limit the losses caused by its mistakes.”

Russia’s assault on Ukraine has killed thousands and driven almost a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes. Germany predicted the refugee number could reach as high as 10 million in coming weeks.