Zelenskyy calls for peace talks, says only chance for Russia to reduce damage from its own mistakes

Zelenskyy said it was time for meaningful talks with Moscow on peace and security, calling it Russia's only chance to reduce damage from its mistakes.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said it was time for meaningful talks with Moscow, saying this is Russia's only chance to reduce the damage from its own mistakes.

In a video address, Zelenskyy said, "Meaningful negotiations on peace, on security for us, for Ukraine - are the only chance for Russia to reduce the damage from its own mistakes. It's time to meet. Time to talk."

The Ukrainian president said the price of war would cause huge losses for Russia which could take generations to recover.

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"It is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia's losses will be so huge that several generations will not be enough to rebound," he said.

Talking about Vladimir Putin's address on the anniversary of the seizure of Crimea, Zelenskyy said, "Many words were heard today in Moscow.. a big rally took place. And I want to pay attention to one detail. It is reported that a total of about 200,000 people were involved in the rally in the Russian capital. 100,000 on the streets, about 95000 at the stadium. Approximately the same number of Russian troops were involved in the invasion of Ukraine. Just imagine 14000 corpses and tens of thousands of wounded and maimed people at that stadium in Moscow."

While rescuers were trying to search for trapped civilians under the debris of a bombed theatre in Mariupol. Zelenskyy said over 130 people had been rescued so far. However, there was no information about how many people had died, he said.