Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview posted Tuesday that he would agree to direct talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin to end almost three years of war.
His comments came amid high anticipation of talks to begin, with Donald Trump -- who has pledged to end the fighting -- back in the White House as the third anniversary of Moscow's invasion approaches.
The interview with British journalist Piers Morgan was posted on YouTube.
Asked how he would feel if he sat opposite Putin at a negotiating table, Zelensky said: "If that is the only set-up in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely we will go for this set-up," adding that he would be with "four participants."
He did not specify who the participants were but Morgan earlier spoke of hypothetical talks between Russia, Ukraine, the EU and the US.
"I will not be kind to him, I consider him an enemy. To be honest, I think he considers me an enemy, too," the Ukrainian leader said.
Putin last week said Moscow would hold talks with Ukraine, but ruled out speaking directly to Zelensky.
Read morePutin says peace talks with Ukraine possible, but not with Zelensky
Both countries have tried to rush an advantage on the battlefield ahead of possible talks -- which so far remain hypothetical.
Kyiv has struggled to hold back Russian forces and Zelensky conceded that Ukraine is unlikely to get some of the territory it lost to Russia back.
"Regrettably, the support that is provided by our partners is insufficient to push Putin fully out of our territories," he said.
The EU and Kyiv share some concerns that Trump would force Kyiv to make unfair concessions to Moscow.
Zelensky also repeated that a roadmap for Ukraine to join NATO remains Kyiv's favoured way to end fighting and get "security guarantees".
(AFP)