Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to sit down for talks.
Mr Zelenskyy's remarks follow a second round of discussions between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Belarus overnight.
The peace talks have not yielded a result but the two sides have discussed humanitarian corridors and agreed to speak again.
While referring to the long table used by Mr Putin during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Ukrainian leader emphasised the need for the two leaders to talk.
"What do you want from us? Go away from our land. You don't want to leave now? Sit down with me at the negotiation table. I'm available," Mr Zelenskyy said in a televised interview.
"I'm your neighbour. You don't need to keep me at 30-metre distance. I don't bite. I'm a normal man. Sit down with me. Let's talk. What are you afraid of?"
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine and Russia could find a way out of the war if the Kremlin treated Ukraine on an equal footing and came to talks with a will to negotiate in good faith.
"There are things in which some compromises must be found so that people do not die, but there are things in which there are no compromises," Mr Zelenskyy said.
Mr Putin spoke by telephone to Mr Macron on Thursday, local time, telling him Russia would achieve its goals, including the demilitarisation and neutrality of Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
Mr Macron told Mr Putin "you are lying to yourself" about the government in Kyiv, which Moscow said is a threat to its security, and the war would cost Russia dearly, a French official said.
ABC/wires
