Ukraine's Zelensky says will only talk directly to Russia's Putin

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that he was only willing to talk directly to Vladimir Putin and not via intermediators.

He added that if the Russian president "understands reality" there was the possibility of finding a diplomatic way out of the conflict.

Zelenskiy, speaking to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, also said that Ukraine would fight until it recovered all of its territory.

The Ukrainian president said that Moscow should withdraw its troops back to the lines in place before Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24.

"That might be a first step towards talks," he said, adding that Russia has been playing for time in its talks with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia's parliament approved a law on Wednesday in double-quick time removing the upper age limit for contractual service in the military, amid heavy casualties in Ukraine.

Lawmakers in the State Duma lower house approved the bill in three readings in a single session, with the upper house, the Federation Council, giving its assent shortly after. The bill now needs only the signature of Putin to become law.

State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said: "Today, especially, we need to strengthen the armed forces and help the Ministry of Defence. Our Supreme Commander is doing everything to ensure that our armed forces win, and we need to help."

Russian forces suffer big losses

Currently, only Russians aged 18-40 and foreigners aged 18-30 can enlist as professional soldiers in the Russian military.

Russian forces have suffered significant losses fighting in Ukraine.

The defence ministry said on March 25 that 1,351 Russian service personnel had been killed and 3,825 wounded since Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24. It has not updated its casualty figures since.

Both Ukrainian and Western intelligence officials have said Russia's losses in Ukraine were significantly higher at the time, and have risen sharply since March.

In other developments Wednesday, Putin signed a decree simplifying the process for residents of Ukraine's Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to acquire Russian citizenship and passports.

The decree extends a scheme available since 2019 to residents of areas controlled by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.