Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Wednesday for freezing the front line in the war against Russia as a first step toward ceasefire talks, according to France 24.

“Right now we have to freeze, and I think this is the real way to end this war,” he said. Zelensky said any peace talks must include Ukraine. “I always said that we are open to negotiate in any format, any topics. But don’t speak about us without us, please.”