Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds a press conference on Russia's military operation in Ukraine, on February 25, 2022 in Kyiv.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference on Russia's military operation in Ukraine, on February 25, 2022 in Kyiv.Photo by Presidency of Ukraine/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
  • Zelensky asks Putin on Friday to "sit down at the negotiating table" to "stop the dying."
  • His remarks came as Russian forces continued their assault on Kyiv.
  • A Kremlin spokesperson told reporters that Putin was ready to send a delegation to Minsk for talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for negotiations to "stop the dying" as Russian forces strike the country's capital city of Kyiv.

"Let us sit down at the negotiating table in order to stop the dying," he said in a video address on Friday, according to a translation from the New York Times.

Zelensky added: "I want to turn again to the president of the Russian Federation… Fighting is taking place across the entire territory of Ukraine."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Putin is ready to send officials to the Belarusian capital of Minsk for discussions, according to Russian news agencies translated by the Wall Street Journal.

"In response to Zelensky's offer, Vladimir Putin is ready to send to Minsk a Russian delegation," Peskov told reporters, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Peskov officials from the defense and foreign ministries and the president's office would be part of the delegation, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called overnight strikes on Kyiv "horrific," and compared the situation to attacks from Nazi Germany in 1941.

"Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany," he wrote on Twitter. Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Severe all ties. Kick Russia out of [everywhere]."

Kyiv was rocked by explosions early Friday morning, though it was not immediately clear how many people were injured or how much damage the city had sustained. 

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