Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia must stop bombing Ukrainian cities before meaningful talks on a ceasefire could start, as a first round of negotiations this week had yielded scant progress.
Speaking in an interview in a heavily guarded government compound, Zelenskiy urged NATO members to impose a no fly zone to stop the Russian air force, saying this would be a preventative measure and not meant to drag the alliance into war with Russia.
Zelenskiy, who has refused offers to leave the Ukrainian capital as Russian forces advanced, also said Ukraine would demand legally binding security guarantees if NATO shut the door on Ukraine’s membership prospects.
Setting out his conditions for further talks with Russia, Zelenskiy told Reuters and CNN in a joint interview: “It’s necessary to at least stop bombing people, just stop the bombing and then sit down at the negotiating table.”
Just as he was speaking, news emerged that a Russian missile had struck a TV tower near a Holocaust memorial site in the Ukrainian capital, killing at least five people. Earlier on Tuesday, missiles struck the heart of the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Ukraine has received weapons shipments from NATO members to help withstand a full-scale military invasion unleashed by Russian forces last week, while the West has also introduced swingeing sanctions on the Russian economy.
But Zelenskiy has urged the international community to do more, including imposing a no fly zone.
“This is not about dragging NATO countries into war. The truth is everyone has long since been dragged into war and definitely not by Ukraine, but by Russia – a large-scale war is going on,” Zelenskiy said.
