Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Sunday, said that he is ready to negotiate with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. However, the former actor-comedian added that the talks could lead to a ‘third World War’. 

Zelensky’s statement, in an exclusive interview with CNN, came as 14,700 Russian personnel have been killed, 1,487 armoured vehicles of various types, 947 vehicles, 476 tanks, 230 artillery pieces, 118 helicopters, 96 aircrafts, 74 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System), 60 cisterns, 44 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 21 UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), 12 special equipment and 3 vessels have been destroyed since the Moscow’s attack on February 24. 

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“I’m ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations, we cannot end this war,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. 

The president added that he would like to take any chance to stop the war. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, said that six Russian generals and dozens of other senior officers have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion.

“If there’s just 1% chance for us to stop this war, I think that we need to take this chance. We need to do that. I can tell you about the result of this negotiations — in any case, we are losing people on a daily basis, innocent people on the ground,” the Ukrainian President said.

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He further added that the Russian forces have undermined Ukraine and Kyiv has been able to strike back. 

“Russian forces have come to exterminate us, to kill us. And we can demonstrate that the dignity of our people and our army that we are able to deal a powerful blow, we are able to strike back. But, unfortunately, our dignity is not going to preserve the lives. So, I think we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War,” Zelensky added. 

At least 1.5 million children have become refugees during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UNICEF spokesperson Joe English told CNN on Sunday.