- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it's unclear whether conversations with Russia were impactful.
- "It's important to stop bombing people," Zelensky said.
- Russia's attack on Ukraine has persisted despite the conversation.
Inside the basement of a building at an undisclosed position in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "we'll see," when asked if correspondence between Ukraine and Russia Moscow was a "waste of time," as Russia continues to invade his country, according to a joint interview between Reuters and CNN.
"You have to speak first of all. Everybody has to stop fighting and to go [back] to that point from where it began five, six days ago," Zelensky told reporters at the exclusive interview Tuesday. "It's important to stop bombing people and then we can move on and sit at the negotiation table."
Officials from Ukraine and Russia sat down near the border of Ukraine and Belarus on Monday. Ukraine sought an immediate ceasefire while Russia sought Ukraine's "neutral status," according to ABC News. It's unclear when the two countries will meet again to continue discussions.
"Negotiations are difficult. However, without any obligatory ultimatums already. Unfortunately, the Russian side is still extremely biased regarding the destructive processes it launched," Zelensky's advisor, Mikhail Podolyak, said on Twitter Monday.
Zelensky later echoed the sentiment in a video address discussing the meeting on Monday: "So far, we do not have the result we would like to obtain."
"We received some signals. When the delegation returns to Kyiv, we will analyze what we have heard, and then we will decide how to proceed to the second round of talks," Zelensky said during the video address.
The fighting has gone on for six days after it began early in the morning on February 24, local time. Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion — which he calls a "special military operation" — has killed hundreds and has displaced hundreds of thousands.
"The synchronization of the shelling with the negotiation process was evident. I believe that Russia is trying to put pressure on us in such an unsophisticated way," the Ukrainian president also said Monday after the meeting. "Don't waste your time. We do not accept such tactics."