President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting “neutral status” in peace talks with Russia.

On Sunday, Mr Zelensky called on Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to meet in a neutral country to carry out further negotiations on a peace deal.

“Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point,” Mr Zelensky said to Russian journalists during a 90-minute.

Mr Zelensky maintained that Ukraine will not discuss certain Russian demands, like demilitarisation.

Though Mr Zelensky asserted that no peace deal would be struck without a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops, he said he was willing to “compromise” over the Donbas region held by Russian-backed forces.

Mr Zelensky added that Russia’s invasion, now in its second month since February, had caused the destruction of Russian-speaking cities in Ukraine, with damage worse than the Russian wars in Chechnya.

Ukraine initially dropped neutrality in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea. Ukraine’s vote to abandon neutrality prevented it from seeking membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

However in 2019, an amendment to Ukraine’s constitution made NATO membership a priority.

Russia has insisted that Ukraine should be a neutral country, with its own non-aligned military. Mr Putin had demanded written guarantees that Ukraine won’t join NATO.

Mr Zelensky had appealed to Western powers to enforce a no-fly zone over the country. However, both the U.S. and UK governments said combat troops will not be sent into Ukraine in fears of entering into a direct war with Russia.