Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia.
Speaking in a group interview with Russian journalists, Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's neutrality would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum.
In other developments, a leader of one of the separatist regions in Ukraine's east said he was planning to hold an independence referendum, and Russia confirmed it had used cruise missiles to strike targets in Lviv.
During the interview, Mr Zelenskyy said Russia's invasion had caused the destruction of Russian-speaking cities in Ukraine, and the damage was worse than the Russian wars in Chechnya.
"Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point," he said.
Ukraine was discussing the use of the Russian language in Ukraine in talks with Russia, but refused to discuss other demands, such as demilitarisation, the President said.
Mr Zelenskyy said no peace deal would be possible without a ceasefire and troop withdrawals.
He ruled out trying to recapture all Russian-held territory by force, saying it would lead to a third world war, and said he wanted to reach a "compromise" over the eastern Donbas region, held by Russian-backed forces since 2014.
Mr Zelenskyy pushed back against allegations from Moscow that Ukraine had curbed the rights of Russian speakers, saying it was Russia's invasion that wiped Russian-speaking cities "off the face of the earth".
He also dismissed as "a joke" allegations made by Russia that Ukraine had nuclear or chemical weapons.
Mr Zelenskyy later said in his nightly video address that he would insist on the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine in any talks.
Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor had told Russian media to refrain from reporting the interview and said it had started a probe into the outlets which had interviewed the Ukrainian leader.
"Roskomnadzor warns the Russian media about the necessity of refraining from publishing this interview," it said in a statement on social media and its website. It did not give a reason for its warning.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a telephone call a ceasefire and better humanitarian conditions were needed following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Mr Erdogan's office said in a statement.
"Erdogan noted the importance of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, the implementation of peace and the improvement of humanitarian conditions in the region," his office said in a readout of the call.
Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said the next round of face-to-face talks between Ukraine and Russia would take place in Turkey from March 28 to 30.
Zelenskyy says West needs more courage
In an earlier speech, Mr Zelenskyy accused the West of lacking courage as Ukraine fights to stave off Russia's invasion, making an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks.
Speaking after US President Joe Biden met with senior Ukrainian officials in Poland on Saturday, Mr Zelenskyy lashed out at the West's "ping-pong about who and how should hand over jets and other defensive weapons to us" while Russian missile attacks kill and trap civilians.
"I've talked to the defenders of Mariupol today. I'm in constant contact with them. Their determination, heroism and firmness are astonishing," Mr Zelenskyy said in a video address, referring to the besieged southern city that has suffered some of the war's greatest horrors.
Mr Zelenskyy also signed a law on Sunday that bans reporting on troop and equipment movements that have not been announced or approved by the military.
Journalists who violate the law could face three to eight years in prison. The law does not differentiate between Ukrainian and foreign reporters.
Separatist region leader's referendum claims
On Sunday, reports surfaced the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine was planning to hold a referendum soon on joining Russia.
The comments came from local leader Leonid Pasechnik, cited by a regional news outlet.
"I think that in the near future a referendum will be held on the territory of the republic," Mr Pasechnik said.
"The people will exercise their ultimate constitutional right and express their opinion on joining the Russian Federation."
Russia last month recognised the Luhansk and Donetsk self-proclaimed republics as independent, before ordering what it called a peacekeeping operation in the region and sending in troops.
Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said any such referendum would have no legal basis.
"Instead, Russia will facе an even stronger response from the international community, further deepening its global isolation."
Moscow trying to 'split' Ukraine
Britain's defence ministry said the battlefield across northern Ukraine remained largely static as local Ukrainian counterattacks hampered Russian attempts to reorganise their forces.
It said Russia's forces looked to be trying to encircle Ukrainian forces directly facing the separatist regions in the country's east.
The region has been partially controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014.
A high-ranking Russian military official said on Friday that troops were being redirected to the east from other parts of the country.
The head of Ukrainian military intelligence said on Sunday that he believed Russia was trying to split Ukraine in two to create a Moscow-controlled region after failing to take over the whole country.
He said Ukraine would soon launch guerilla warfare in Russian-occupied territory.
"In addition, the season of a total Ukrainian guerilla safari will soon begin. Then there will be one relevant scenario left for the Russians, how to survive," he said.
Russia targets fuel and food storage depots
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov, confirmed Russian used air-launched cruise missiles to hit a fuel depot and a defence plant in the western city of Lviv.
Russia's back-to-back air strikes shook the city that has become a haven for an estimated 200,000 people who have fled bombarded areas.
Lviv also has been a way-station for most of the 3.8 million refugees who have left Ukraine since Russia's invasion began on February 24.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry adviser, Vadym Denysenko, warned Russia had started destroying Ukrainian fuel and food storage centres, meaning the government would have to disperse stocks of both in the near future.
Mr Konashenkov said another strike with sea-launched missiles destroyed a depot containing air defence missiles in Plesetske, just west of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.
White House walks back Biden comment
The strikes came as Mr Biden wrapped up a visit to Poland, where he met Ukraine's foreign and defence ministers, visited US troops and saw refugees from the war.
He delivered a forceful and highly personal condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying: "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power."
The White House quickly clarified that Mr Biden wasn't calling for an immediate change in government in Moscow.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Mr Biden had simply meant Mr Putin could not be "empowered to wage war" against Ukraine or anywhere else.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced the remark, saying: "It's not up to the president of the US and not up to the Americans to decide who will remain in power in Russia."
AP/Reuters
