Zelenskiy: no talks with Russia until bombing stops

STORY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russia must stop bombarding cities before meaningful ceasefire talks could begin after a first round of negotiations yielded little progress.

"We are for dialogue, yes, but the least that must happen is the bombardment of people must stop. You simply have to stop the bombardment and then sit down behind the table for talks.”

The 44-year-old Zelenskiy, unshaven and clad in a khaki t-shirt and combat boots, made the remarks in an exclusive interview Tuesday with Reuters and CNN in a heavily guarded government compound in Kyiv.

Just as he was speaking, news emerged that a Russian missile had struck a TV tower in the Ukrainian capital, killing at least five people. Earlier that day, missiles struck the heart of the eastern city of Kharkiv.

Ukraine is receiving weapons shipments from NATO members to help withstand a full-scale military invasion unleashed last week by Russian forces. The West has also introduced severe sanctions on the Russian economy.

But Zelenskiy pressed the international community to do more, including imposing a no-fly zone over his country.

"As far as no-fly zone is concerned it would have helped a lot. This is not about dragging NATO countries into war. The truth is everyone has long since been dragged into war and definitely not by Ukraine, but by Russia. A large-scale war is going on. And everybody thinks it would be over quickly. I talked to President Biden many times, I am very grateful to him for all the opportunities and the support but they did not hear me. I told them that Ukraine will fight, will fight more than anyone else. But we, just by ourselves, left alone against Russia, we simply cannot manage."

But the White House says it is not willing to enforce a no-fly zone, which might put American service-members in harm’s way.

Zelenskiy said that U.S. President Joe Biden had personally conveyed to him that now was not the time to introduce such a measure.

President Zelenskiy has remained in Kyiv to rally his people against the Russian invasion, now in its sixth day, posting social media videos and constantly reassuring the population that neither he, his family or closest officials have left.