Ukraine's recently elected President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday offered to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for their first talks, calling for Western leaders to mediate.
"Now I want to address the Russian President Vladimir Putin. We need to talk? We do. Let's do it," Zelensky said in a video address, France 24 reports.
The former comic actor who was elected with a landslide in April's presidential polls called for a meeting with the Russian strongman that would involve US President Donald Trump and other Western leaders.
The Ukrainian leader also suggested that the talks should be mediated by US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, TASS reports.
Speaking on the venue of this meeting, Zelensky said: "I think [Belarusian President] Alexander Lukashenko will be glad to receive us in Minsk." "We are neither changing anything nor rejecting any diplomatic formats. We are suggesting talks," the president stated.
He proposed discussing Russian-annexed Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine where Ukrainian forces are battling Russian-backed separatists.
Zelensky said on his inauguration in May that ending the war in the east and returning the annexed territory to Ukraine were his priority.
Read more: