Russia-Ukraine war: Zelensky insists on meeting with Putin

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday insisted that a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “in any format” is needed to end the war in Ukraine.

“I believe that without this meeting it is impossible to fully understand what they are ready for in order to stop the war,” Zelensky said in an interview with the Ukraine regional media outlet Suspilne.

Zelensky has previously said that “without negotiations we cannot end the war” and called for a summit with Putin, but his comments on Monday were particularly insistent.

Several session of Ukraine-Russia talks has taken place via videoconferencing since the start of the Russian military action in Ukraine on February 24.