KYIV, Apr 24 (AFP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday called again for a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in an effort to "put an end to the war".
"I think that whoever started this war will be able to end it," he told a news conference at a metro station in the heart of the Ukrainian capital, adding that he was "not afraid to meet" Putin if it would lead to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
"From the beginning, I have insisted on talks with the Russian president," he said. "It's not that I want (to meet him), it's that I have to meet him so as to settle this conflict by diplomatic means.
"We have confidence in our partners, but we have no confidence in Russia," he added.
Zelensky also repeated his warning that they would break off talks if Russia killed the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in the besieged Black Sea port of Mariupol.
"If our men are killed in Mariupol and if these pseudo-referendums are organised in the (southern) region of Kherson, then Ukraine will withdraw from any negotiation process," he said.
He was ready to exchange Ukraine's soldiers defending the city "in whatever format" to save "these people who find themselves in a horrible situation, surrounded".
He said the "last contact" with the Mariupol soldiers had been an hour ago, he said, adding "today is one of the hardest days" since the start of the Russian siege of the city at the beginning of March.
UN chief's plan to visit Moscow
before Kyiv criticised
Zelensky on Saturday criticised a decision by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to visit Moscow on Tuesday, before heading to Kyiv.
"It is simply wrong to go first to Russia and then to Ukraine," Zelensky told reporters in the Ukraine capital. "There is no justice and no logic in this order," he added.
"The war is in Ukraine, there are no bodies in the streets of Moscow. It would be logical to go first to Ukraine, to see the people there, the consequences of the occupation," he said.
In the Kyiv region alone, more than a 1,000 civilians had been killed, he added.
Guterres is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, then Zelensky on Thursday.
The UN chief also plans to meet UN staff on staff to discuss stepping up aid for Ukrainians.
Since Guterres accused Russia of violating the UN charter by sending troops into Ukraine, the Russian leader has refused any contact with him.
The UN chief has had little contact with Zelensky either, apart from a telephone conversation on February 26 two days after the Russian attack began.
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