Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday (Jan 25) pointed to the possibility of peace talks with Russia to end the ongoing war, saying that the allies should work towards determining a "format" for any upcoming talks with Russia. 

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Zelensky added that Kyiv must be involved for successful negotiations. 

His statement comes as the latest to the series of speculations over the possibility of talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war. 

"I understand that contacts can be in different formats," Zelensky said, referring to possible negotiations that would lead to "a just peace".

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Also read: Trump ready to meet Russia's Putin 'immediately' to help end Russia-Ukraine war

"I think we should focus on this today," he added.

The Ukrainian president further said that talks to end the war should be held between the US, Ukraine, Russia, and the European Union. 

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"I can't say today what kind of negotiations will take place, what will be the structure of the negotiation process, because we don't have a common plan yet," Zelensky said.

Also read: If Trump's victory hadn't been stolen in 2020 polls, there wouldn't be crisis in Ukraine, Putin says

He, however, clearly stressed that any negotiations that excluded Ukraine would not ultimately guarantee any lasting peace. 

"It is impossible to exclude Ukraine from any negotiation platform, or this negotiation platform will not have real results but will have political results," he said.

Putin ready for talks

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he was ready for talks with US President Donald Trump on Ukraine. 

Also read: 'STOP this ridiculous war now or else face high tariffs, sanctions': Trump warns Putin

Putin also praised Trump as a "smart" leader who might have prevented the war if he had been the President of the US at that time. 

“I cannot but agree with him that if he had been president—if his victory hadn’t been stolen in 2020—then maybe there would not have been the crisis in Ukraine that emerged in 2022," the Russian president said. 

However, he did not mention when these talks could happen. Earlier, the Kremlin also said that it was awaiting "signals" from Washington. 

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Meanwhile, on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he wanted to meet Putin as soon as possible to secure an end to the war with Ukraine and expressed a desire to work towards cutting nuclear arms.

(With inputs from agencies)