He named Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest or Baku as possible alternative venues and made it clear other locations were also possible.
Despite this clear message from Zelensky, Russia has sent its officials to the Belarusian city of Gomel anyway.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ‘The Russian delegation is ready for talks, and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians.’
Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the Russian delegation have arrived knowing ‘it is pointless’ due to his country’s refusal to meet on enemy territory.
‘They arrived in Gomel knowing that it was pointless. And now they say – “we are waiting,”‘ he said.
‘Zelensky’s position remains unchanged: only real negotiations, no ultimatums.’
Ukrainian forces have so far managed to resist the Russian invasion (Picture: Reuters)
There has also been street fighting in the second largest city of Kharkiv, which is located just 12 miles south of the Russian border.
Zelensky said the night had been brutal, with shelling of civilian infrastructure and attacks on ‘everything, including ambulances.’
A petroleum storage depot in Vasylkiv was among the key infrastructure sites hit (Picture: EPA)
More than 100,000 people have fled Ukraine since fighting began (Picture: Reuters)
But in his video message he remained defiant. ‘We have withstood and are successfully repelling enemy attacks. The fighting goes on,’ he said.
The United States and its allies have imposed a range of sanctions on Russia in response to the assault.
On Saturday, they moved to block certain Russian banks’ access to the SWIFT international payment system. They also said they would impose restrictions on Russia’s central bank to limit its ability to support the rouble and finance Putin’s war effort.