Zelensky calls talks with Russia heavy and sometimes confrontational

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said in a video message on Wednesday that talks with Russia to end the war in his country were “tough” and “at times confrontational”. But he also said, “Step by step we are moving forward.”

Although Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have met regularly in recent weeks, both sides say a deal is still a long way off. “We continue to work at different levels to encourage Russia on its way to peace,” Zelensky said of the talks, which he says “take place almost every day.”

Zelensky also used the video message to accuse Russian troops of thwarting attempts to evacuate civilians from the southeastern port city of Mariupol. There, according to the Ukrainian president, about 100,000 people are currently living in “inhumane conditions, completely blocked, without food, without water, without medicine, subject to constant shelling and bombing”.