Ukraine's Zelensky calls for meeting with Russian counterpart 'to end the war'

"I think that whoever started this war will be able to end it," he told a news conference in the capital Kiev on Saturday.

Zelensky said he was "not afraid to meet" Putin if it would lead to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, adding, "From the beginning, I have insisted on talks with the Russian president."

Ukraine's president added that the meeting was necessary to put an end to the conflict, saying, "It's not that I want (to meet him), it's that I have to meet him to settle this conflict by diplomatic means."

Zelensky's remarks came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to visit Kiev Sunday, the day the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third month.

Zelensky told reporters that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will be also visiting Ukraine. 

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” aimed at “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine. In 2014, the two regions declared themselves new republics, refusing to recognize Ukraine’s Western-backed government.

Announcing the operation, Putin said the mission was aimed at “defending people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.”

Zelensky threatens to quit talks if Russia kills Ukrainian forces in Mariupol
Elsewhere in his interview, Zelenskiy said Kiev would quit peace talks with Moscow if "Russia destroys Ukraine's people in the city of
Mariupol" and holds "pseudo-referendums" to create "pseudo-republics" in those areas.

"If our men are killed in Mariupol and if these pseudo-referendums are organized in the (southern) region of Kherson, then Ukraine will withdraw from any negotiation process," Zelensky added.

The Ukrainian president, meanwhile, proposed exchanging the Ukrainian forces, who are holed up at a steelworks in the Black Sea port city of Mariupol, "in whatever format."

In 2014, the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea voted in a referendum in favor of joining the Russian Federation. Moscow denounces accusations that the referendum was choreographed.

Zelensky also alleged that eight people were killed and 18 others wounded in “Russian strikes” in Odessa, another Black Sea port.

Pushing for ‘powerful American weapons’
During the presser, Zelensky made an urgent demand for more American arms, saying it was absolutely vital for Ukraine to receive “heavy weapons” during the expected visit to Kiev by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

The weapons, Zelensky said, are needed, so Ukraine can “retake” the areas that have been captured by Russia.

"As soon as we have [more weapons], as soon as there are enough of them, believe me, we will immediately retake this or that territory, which is temporarily occupied," he told reporters.

"Tomorrow we will discuss this exact list of weapons that are essential for us and the pace of deliveries," he said, adding, "We expect this. We would like to have ... powerful heavy weapons."

Moscow has repeatedly warned that further militarization of Ukraine by the West torpedoes the prospect of peace.