Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Moscow is willing to hold “high-level negotiations with Ukraine”, China’s foreign ministry said.

Xi also called for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in a phone call with Putin as Moscow-led forces continued attacks on military and civilian targets in Ukraine on the second day of the invasion that has prompted global condemnation.

Putin’s offer followed a Kremlin announcement that his government was considering an offer by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate non-aligned status for his country.

Russian leader told Xi that the US and NATO had long ignored Russia’s legitimate security concerns, repeatedly reneged on their commitments, and continued to expand military deployment eastward, challenging Russia’s strategic bottom line, according to an official Chinese government statement, shared by the foreign ministry and Chinese official media.

“Russian side is ready to conduct high-level negotiations with the Ukrainian side”, - Putin told Xi.