Zelenskyy puts Ukrainian war dead at over 45,000

KYIV, Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that 45,100 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed defending the country against the Russian invasion since February 2022.

Another 390,000 troops have been injured, he said.

With the situation on the frontlines largely at a stalemate as the third anniversary of the start of the full-scale war approaches, Zelenskyy has said he would be willing to hold direct talks with Russian President Russian Vladimir Putin to end the conflict.

"If that is the only set-up in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely we will go for this set-up," he told British media personality Piers Morgan in an interview broadcast on YouTube on Tuesday.

He added that such talks would have to involve "four participants."

"If people believe we must move to the diplomatic track, and I believe we are ready to move to the diplomatic track, there must be the United States, Europe, Ukraine and Russia," he said.

While Zelenskyy stressed that Kyiv would not recognize Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory, he acknowledged that Western support had been "regrettably … insufficient to push Putin fully out of our territories."

Asked how he would feel if he sat opposite Putin at a negotiating table, the Ukrainian leader said: "I would not be kind to him, I consider him an enemy. To be honest, I think he considers me an enemy, too." Putin has ruled out speaking to Zelenskyy directly.

Zelenskyy estimated Russian casualties at over 350,000 dead and up to 700,000 injured or missing since 2022.

The figures could not be independently verified.