Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he is willing to have direct talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin to end the nearly three-year-long war, while US President Donald Trump continues working on efforts to bring the conflict to a swift conclusion.

"If that is the only setup in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely we will go for this set-up," Zelenskyy stated in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan that was uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday. He added that he will engage in discussions with "four participants." Zelenskyy further said, “I will not be kind to him (Putin), I consider him an enemy. To be honest, I think he considers me an enemy, too." Prior to this, Putin had consented to negotiate with Ukraine but had refused to communicate with Zelenskyy directly, referring to him as "illegitimate."

Zelenskyy has admitted that Kyiv has had difficulty defending against Russian forces and that Ukraine probably won't be able to regain some of the land it lost to Russia after talks with the US. “Regrettably, the support that is provided by our partners is insufficient to push Putin fully out of our territories," he said. “If people believe we must move to the diplomatic track, and I believe we are ready to move to the diplomatic track, there must be the US, Europe, Ukraine and Russia," Zelenskyy further told Morgan. Trump has mentioned that Washington and Moscow have already been communicating about Ukraine, but a senior Russian diplomat stated that direct talks have not started yet. 

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine has lost 45,100 lives, with 390,000 people injured. On the other hand, Russia has suffered 350,000 casualties, with 600,000 to 700,000 injured. He also renewed his request for security guarantees to protect Ukraine from potential future actions by Russia. A plan for Ukraine to join NATO, he said, is still Kyiv's means of putting a stop to hostilities and obtaining security assurances. “What will be defending us against this evil for this whole time? What support package? Which missiles? Will we be given nuclear weapons?" he said. 

On Monday, Trump stated that he wants to make a deal with Ukraine to secure access to the country’s rare earth materials. He added that this would be a condition for the US to continue supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. “Ukraine has very valuable rare earth. We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things," Trump said in a conversation with reporters in the Oval Office. Trump has often said that if he had been President in 2022, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine. Putin also recently suggested that the crisis in Ukraine might not have happened if Trump had been in office.