Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Friday an all-out war with Russia was possible and that he wanted to have a substantive meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

“I think there can be… It’s the worst thing that could happen, but unfortunately, there is that possibility.”

Mr Zelenskiy was asked at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) summit if there could be an all-out war with Russia, which seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and backs pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s east.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine is estimated to have killed 14,000 people since 2014.

Mr Zelenskiy said relations with the United States had improved but bemoaned that Ukraine had not received a clear answer to its request to join the NATO military alliance – a move that would be certain to infuriate Moscow.

“We have not received… a direct position on Ukraine’s accession to NATO,” he said, adding, “Ukraine has been ready for a long time.”

Mr Zelenskiy said a refusal to admit Ukraine would weaken NATO while playing into Russia’s hands.

Tensions between Kyiv and Moscow increased earlier this year when fighting in eastern Ukraine intensified, and Russia massed more troops near the border.

Moscow accused Ukraine of losing interest in peace talks, while Mr Zelenskiy pushed in vain to meet with President Putin in the conflict zone.

“Honestly, I don’t have time to think about him,” Mr Zelenskiy said on Friday, adding, “I’m more interested in whether we can really meet substantively, not declaratively as he does with some states.”

“It seems to me that today … they do not see the sense in resolving issues. End the war and resolve conflict issues quickly – they don’t want this,” he said.