Zelensky talks about a fundamental change in Moscow's approach during negotiations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia had adopted a "fundamentally different approach" from its previous approaches during negotiations to end the war.

In response to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements about "progress" in the Russian-Ukrainian talks, the Ukrainian president said he was "happy to receive a signal from Russia."

In a press conference broadcast by the Ukrainian presidency via the Telegram application, Zelensky added that during the recent discussions "we started talking" and Moscow was no longer "only issuing ultimatums", which constitutes a "fundamentally different approach."

According to the Ukrainian president, his country has contacted Russia "more than a dozen times" over the past two years "without receiving a response at all about the possibility of a dialogue."

Zelensky's comments come after a meeting held Thursday between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Turkey, the first at this level since the beginning of the conflict.

Prior to that, three sessions of delegation-level talks were held, the first on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border and the next two on the Polish-Belarusian border.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday that these talks were continuing by video link, but declined to give further details.

Adviser to the Ukrainian President, Mikhailo Podolyak, confirmed that these negotiations took place via video, pointing to the establishment of "sub-working groups".

However, Volodymyr Zelensky lamented that "the Western partners (of Ukraine) are not sufficiently committed" to this approach.

Regarding security guarantees, he said, "Ukraine will not be able to trust Russia after this bloody war. Such security guarantees should be given by other foreign leaders."

During this press conference on Saturday, the Ukrainian president announced for the first time that "about 1,300" Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Zelensky revealed that "about 1,300 of our soldiers died," without further details.

He stressed that the Russian army lost "about 12,000 soldiers," adding, "It's one in ten, but I'm not happy with that."

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