During a news briefing, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky says he ‘has to talk’ with Russian Present Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine

As the war in Ukraine enters its eighth day, Zelensky has made an urgent plea to Putin for one-on-one talks, adding that “any words are more important than shots”. 

“It’s not about I want to talk with Putin, I think I have to talk with Putin,”

“The world has to talk with Putin because there are no other ways to stop this war.”

-Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky

This comes as Ukraine’s key war negotiator says the latest round of talks with Russia didn’t achieve the results he was hoping for.

The negotiator says the humanitarian crisis currently unfolding throughout his nation is at the top of the agenda, as a number of cities remain surrounded by Russian forces. It’s expected talks will pick up and continue in “the near future”.

Ukraine’s leader is also pleading for the west to provide more planes so his troops can fight the invasion.

Russia continues to move in on Ukraine’s north, east, and south and is telling his constituents that the war is going to plan. There are further reports of intense shelling in the Mariupol region, as Russian forces cease control of Kherson.

Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv remains in government control, with a kilometers-long convoy still sitting quite a distance away from the capital city’s borders.

“We are not attacking Russia and we do not plan to attack it. What do you want from us? Leave our land.”

-Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky

Ukrainian President Zelensky says his nation’s armed forces are holding out against Russian aggression and there has been no rest in Russia’s ongoing shelling. He says his people have nothing to lose but their own freedom.

The president vows that his country will be rebuilt and Moscow will pay for what it has done.

Athletes banned

Meanwhile, Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from the upcoming Winter Paralympics in Beijing.

The Paralympic Committee’s president says this follows a number of threats of boycotts by a number of other nations if Russia was to compete.

The IPC had previously given the go-ahead for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete, noting “athletes are not aggressors”. However, this has been swiftly changed.

Lives in danger

In Geneva, the head of human rights at the United Nations has warned tens of millions of lives are at risk as Russian troops move in.

The chief is calling for an immediate end to the war and has begun setting up an international inquiry into alleged violations by Russia.

However, Russia’s ambassador has dismissed the need for any inquiry, calling out a so-called “criminal regime in Kyiv”.

Russia is also accusing the United States and its Western allies of stoking the flame by supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine.