Muristek
Russia-Ukraine War LIVE updates: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again asks for peace talks; Turkish President Erdogan talks with Zelenskyy
Kyiv, March 26
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again appealed to Russia to negotiate an end to the war, but says Ukraine would not agree to give up any of its territory for the sake of peace.
In his nightly video address to the nation on Friday, Zelenskyy appeared to be responding to Col Gen Sergei Rudskoi, deputy chief of the Russian general staff, who said Russian forces would now focus on "the main goal, the liberation of Donbas".
Russian-backed separatists have controlled part of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine since 2014, and Russian forces have been battling to seize more of the region from Ukraine, including the besieged city of Mariupol.
Rudskoi's statement also was a suggestion that Russia might be backing away from trying to take Kyiv and other major cities where its offensive had stalled. Zelenskyy noted that Russian forces had lost thousands of troops but still hadn't been able to take Kyiv or Kharkiv, the second-largest city.