Hello, welcome to the programme.
This is NewsHour from the BBC World Service.
We're coming to you live from London.
My name's Paul Henley.
President Zelensky has said that the first step to ending the war in Ukraine is a ceasefire after Vladimir Putin suggested that direct talks between the two sides could take place in Istanbul this week.
Mr Putin didn't respond to calls for a 30-day pause in fighting issued by European leaders yesterday.
In a rare TV address from the Kremlin,
Vladimir Putin said serious negotiations could take place in Turkey which could pause the conflict.
We are determined to have serious negotiations with Ukraine.
Their purpose is to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and establish long-term,
lasting peace with a historical perspective.
We do not exclude that during these negotiations it will be possible to agree on some new truces,
a new ceasefire.
Moreover, a real ceasefire that would be observed not only by the Russian side,
but also by the Ukrainian side.
This would be the first step towards long-term sustainable peace.
The words there of Vladimir Putin.
Let's hear live from Arseniy Yatsenyuk,
who is a former prime minister of Ukraine and the founder and chairman of the Kiev Security Forum as well.
He joins us from the Ukrainian capital.