# Zelensky says he is willing to meet Putin if direct talks can end the war
Event date: 2025-02-04
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is prepared to sit opposite Russian President Vladimir Putin in peace talks if that is the only arrangement that can bring an end to the war and prevent more deaths. The comments were made in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan published on Feb. 4, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Zelensky framed the issue as a practical compromise rather than a personal one. He said Ukraine was ready to speak with Putin because even the conversation itself would be part of the bargaining process. At the same time, he made clear that he still sees Putin as an enemy and expects Putin to see him the same way.
The remarks matter because they show how Kyiv is positioning itself as the war enters yet another phase of diplomatic maneuvering. Zelensky said negotiations would need to include Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and Russia. That list signals that Kyiv wants any settlement to be embedded in a wider security framework rather than reduced to a bilateral deal imposed from outside.
He also reiterated that Ukraine would not accept occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian. That remains one of the central obstacles to any negotiated settlement. Without a shared view on borders, even a direct meeting between leaders would only settle the format of talks, not the substance.
The interview included unusually detailed battlefield casualty figures from Zelensky, including his statement that Ukraine has lost 45,100 soldiers and that there have been 390,000 instances of wounded personnel, though the actual wounded count is lower because some soldiers were injured more than once. He also said Russia's dead and wounded totals were far higher. Those figures were presented as part of the same conversation, but the key political point was his willingness to meet the Russian leader if it could help end the fighting.
The broader context is pressure from Washington. The Kyiv Independent report said U.S. President Donald Trump has urged both sides to make a deal and has pledged to broker a ceasefire within the first six months of his term. Zelensky's remarks can be read against that backdrop: a signal that Ukraine may accept direct engagement, but only on terms that preserve its sovereignty and keep the process international rather than purely bilateral.
