Ukrainian Presidency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
- Zelenskyy said Sunday that Ukraine is willing to discuss adopting "neutral status" with Russia.
- Putin has demanded that Ukraine guarantee neutrality for the invasion to end.
- Zelenskyy rejected other demands Russia has made, but said compromise is possible.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to discuss adopting "neutral status" in peace talks with Russia, according to Reuters.
Russia and Ukraine have engaged in several rounds of peace talks to end the invasion, which has now entered its second month, with the latest installment beginning in Turkey on Monday.
"Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point," Zelenskyy told a group of Russian journalists during a 90-minute call on Sunday, Reuters said.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said a peace deal over Ukraine can only happen if Ukraine were to take a neutral status and not join NATO.
Countries with similar stances are Austria, Sweden, and Finland.
However, Zelensky said Ukraine would not entertain the idea of demilitarization, a condition which Russia has also demanded for peace, Reuters said.
Despite Russia signalling that it is open to ending the conflict, its military has pressed on with its invasion of the country, extensively shelling the city of Mariupol.
"All entries and exits from the city of Mariupol are blocked," Zelenskyy said Sunday.
"The port is mined. A humanitarian catastrophe inside the city is unequivocal, because it is impossible to go there with food, medicine and water."
Russian forces have faced strident opposition from Ukraine's military, and Moscow appears to be trying to consolidate its hold on positions it has already taken, rather than try to seize the capital Kyiv.
Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's intelligence chief, said Sunday that Putin may be trying to divide Ukraine in two, as happened with Korea .
On the Sunday call, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine wouldn't try to reclaim all the land that Russia has seized and that he wanted a "compromise" over the separatist-controlled Donbas region, Reuters said.
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