Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he is prepared to hold talks with Ukraine, as his forces continue to advance through the country.
In a calls with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, Putin reportedly said that he would be willing to send a delegation to participate in 'high-level' negotiations in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, according to a Chinese government readout of the conversation.
Following their conversation Putin called Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko to organise talks, the BBC reported.
The call comes a day after Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Russia would be open to holding talks involving foreign and defense officials, but stressed that any end to hostilities would come with a number of conditions, including the 'demilitarisation' of Ukraine, per POLITICO.
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'The United States and Nato have long ignored Russia's reasonable security concerns, repeatedly reneged on their commitments, and continued to advance military deployment eastward, challenging Russia's strategic bottom line,' Putin claimed in his conversation with Xi, per The Independent.
In a statement Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia was 'not excluding the possibility of having negotiations,' but did not say more about prospects for peace talks.
Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had claimed earlier in the day that the goal of the Russian military was 'not to occupy' Ukraine, but said that talks could not take place until Russia's 'security operation' had been completed.
It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video address said the country needed to talk with Russia about the prospect of a ceasefire.
'We are not afraid to talk to Russia. We are not afraid to talk about security guarantees for our state,' he said, adding that Ukraine would be willing to consider declaring itself a neutral state, in return for security guarantees.
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Diplomatic relations between Russia and Ukraine were broken off by the Ukrainian side on Thursday, February 24, following Russia's invasion.
Putin had previously refused to negotiate directly with Zelensky, who said shortly before the invasion that he had attempted to call his Russian counterpart, but had received no reply.
The potential opening for talks comes as the Russian military continues to advance through Ukraine after launching a full-scale invasion of the country yesterday, February 24.
In an update provided by the Kremlin, Russia's defence ministry claimed its troops had blocked Kyiv to the west, while Ukrainian and Russian forces are understood to be engaged to the north of the capital.
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Topics: Russia, Ukraine, World News