MOSCOW

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday ruled out starting peace talks with Russia.

"There is no and there will be no such thing," Zelenskyy said at a news conference in the capital Kyiv following a meeting with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Zelenskyy denied reports that Western countries are pressuring him to start negotiations with Russia.

"No one is pushing me today. All this was at the beginning of the war and before the war," which started in February 2022, he said.

Commenting on an interview with Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi calling the situation at the front a "stalemate," Zelenskyy said Kyiv has seen much more difficult conditions, especially at the beginning of the conflict.

The key problem at the moment is the control of the sky by Russia, and the solution to this is the supply of F-16 fighters, he stressed.

"There is already a decision (on F-16 deliveries). It awaits completion of the training of Ukrainian pilots," he said.

Zelenskyy also admitted that the conflict in the Middle East has distracted attention from Ukraine, as “can be seen from the results" of the talks with the EU official, adding that he hopes the Mideast conflict will end soon.