Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Friday that there’s a possibility that a full-scale war with Russia could erupt.
Also, he added that having a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is crucial.
When reporters asked Zelenskiy at the Yalta European Strategy summit if there could be a war with Russia, he said, “I think there can be.”
There has been growing tension between the two countries since 2014 when Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.
Also, Russia provided support for the pro-Russia separation movement in Eastern Ukraine.
“It’s the worst thing that could happen, but unfortunately it’s a possibility,” he continued, speaking in Ukrainian.
Ukraine says the conflict in the country’s east has caused the killing of 14,000 people since 2014.
Zelenskiy said relations with the US had improved, but deplored the NATO not giving a clear answer for Ukraine’s request to join the military alliance.
If Ukraine were to join the alliance, the move would certainly provoke Moscow.
“We have not received… a direct position on Ukraine’s accession to NATO,” he said.
“Ukraine has been ready for a long time,” he added.
He said if NATO refuses Ukraine’s admission, it would weaken it under apparent Russian control.
More tensions are now growing between the two countries as the fighting in Ukraine’s east has escalated, and Russia gathered more troops near the border.
While Zelenskiy pushed for a meeting with Putin in the conflict zone, Moscow accused Kyiv of ignoring peace talks.
“Honestly, I don’t have time to think about him,” Zelenskiy said on Friday.
“I’m more interested in whether we can meet substantively, not declaratively, as he does with some states,” he conftinued.
“It seems they don’t see the sense in ending the war and resolving conflict issues quickly – they don’t want this.”