Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to hold one-on-one talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin to end the war.
"I confirmed — and all European leaders supported me — that we are ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin," Zelenskyy said, reports the Deutsche Welle.
Zelenskyy made the comments to reporters following talks with US President Donald Trump and European leaders at the White House.
The Ukrainian leader said that he was ready to meet with Putin in "any type of format" without preconditions.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that discussions were taking place on Ukrainian security guarantees, similar to those of NATO member states.
"What we are discussing here is not NATO membership. What we're discussing here is Article 5 type of security guarantees for Ukraine," Rutte said.
"And what they exactly will entail will now be more specifically discussed," the NATO chief added.
Rutte said there had been no discussion in Washington of deploying ground troops and described the White House meeting as a success.
Article 5 refers to NATO's collective defense principle, under which other states come to the aid of a member state if it is attacked.
Zelenskyy has called for guarantees of assistance from the West based on Article 5 of the NATO Treaty.