Zelenskiy open to China peace plan but rejects compromise with ‘sick’ Putin

Ukranian president shows steel and emotion in marathon press conference to mark start of invasion

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has cautiously welcomed China’s peace plan to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but said it would only be acceptable if it led to Vladimir Putin pulling his troops out from all occupied Ukrainian territory.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv to mark the anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale attack, the Ukrainian president said he “wanted to believe” Beijing was interested in a “fair peace”. That meant not “supplying weapons to Russia”, he said, adding: “I’m doing my best to prevent that from happening. This is priority number one.”