Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine should accept it will not become a member of Nato, hinting at a potential key concession to Russia, which demanded such a guarantee before launching its deadly invasion three weeks ago.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine should accept it will not become a member of Nato, hinting at a potential key concession to Russia, which demanded such a guarantee before launching its deadly invasion three weeks ago.

Speaking to military officials of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force in a video message on Tuesday, the Ukraine president, who has won plaudits around the world for his conduct during the war, said it was a “truth” that it would not join the military alliance.

“Ukraine is not a member of Nato. We understand that. We have heard for years that the doors were open, but we also heard that we could not join. It’s a truth and it must be recognised,” Mr Zelensky said.

On the eve of war, Russian president Vladimir Putin demanded assurances that Ukraine would never become a Nato member. Moscow has repeated the demand since its troops entered Ukraine and also called on Kyiv to sign a neutrality agreement and recognise the independence of pro-Russian republics in the east of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country “must admit” that it wouldn’t join NATO.

“It is clear that Ukraine is not a member of NATO. We understand that. We are adequate people,” Zelenskyy said in a meeting with leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force.

“For years, we have heard about the supposedly open door, but we have also heard that we should not enter, and this is true and we must admit it,” he said of Ukraine’s attempts to join NATO, which started as early as 2008.

But Zelenskyy added that security guarantees from NATO allies would be necessary to keep Ukraine safe amid Russia’s invasion of the Eastern European country.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine destroyed everything that security in our region and I am sure international security was based on,” he said, “the weight of the organizations we all hoped for, the force of international conventions. It has also called into question the world’s most powerful alliance, NATO.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s skies needed to be protected the same way that NATO allies’ skies were but added that he understood there was always a “but” in these situations.

“But what will be NATO’s response to allies in Eastern Europe if they are already seeking protection, if Russian missiles hit, God forbid, if Russian planes” enter their territory? he asked, adding that Russian missiles had already struck about 12 miles from NATO borders.

“I ask you: Help yourself by helping us,” he said. “You know what weapons we need. You know what means of protection we need. You know we crucially need airplanes. It would be extremely difficult for us without your efforts. I am grateful to you. But understand: We need more.”

Zelenskyy added: “I am glad that our people are beginning to understand this and rely on themselves and our partners who help us.”

Ukraine’s first bid to join NATO took place in 2008, and its more recent push has been cited as largely the reason Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last month.

Since then, Zelenskyy has said he’s “cooled” on joining NATO, saying: “The alliance is afraid of controversial things and confrontation with Russia.”

President Biden announced on Tuesday that he would meet Nato leaders in Brussels next week, while Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg made another warning that Russia could use chemical weapons in the conflict.

Responding to the Ukrainian president’s comments, Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “What’s important that is it is for the Ukrainian government to decide what they think is suitable. They should have no decisions imposed upon them.

“Certainly, we do want a peaceful solution to be to be reached but it must be on terms the Ukrainian government agree to and they should not be forced into it. It remains the prime minister’s view that Nato membership is the right of democratic countries, but it’s for those countries to decide.”

The developments came as peace talks between Ukraine and Russia continued, and the leaders of three European Union countries – Poland, the Czech Republic, both Nato members, and Slovenia – surprisingly visited Kyiv. The leaders travelled by train ahead of a meeting with Mr Zelensky.

Despite the diplomatic efforts, Russia’s pummelling of Ukraine continued on Tuesday, the 20th day of the war. The bombardment of Kyiv was stepped up with apartment buildings and a subway station targeted. Mr Zelensky said the strikes killed dozens of people. The shelling ignited a huge fire in a 15-story apartment building in the west of the city and spurred a frantic rescue effort.

“Yesterday we extinguished one fire, today another. It is very difficult,” a firefighter who gave only his first name, Andriy, said outside an apartment building, tears falling from his eyes. “People are dying, and the worst thing is that children are dying. They haven’t lived their lives and they have already seen this.”

Resident Volodymr Trophimov said he watched as a building was hit. “I watched out of the window, and it crashed into the building and all the windows were smashed,” he said.

When Russia launched the war, fear of an imminent invasion gripped the Ukrainian capital, and residents slept in subway stations or crammed onto trains to flee. But as the Russian offensive bogged down, Kyiv saw a relative lull.

Now, fighting has intensified on the city’s outskirts in recent days. Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced a 35-hour curfew extending through Thursday morning.

Almost 100 children have now been killed in the war, said Ukrainian officials.

In the city of Mariupol, another 2,000 cars fled hellish conditions along a humanitarian corridor in the biggest evacuation yet from the desperately besieged seaport. It may have come too late for many though.

One official claimed that up to 20,000 people have been killed by the continual Russian bombardment of the seaport city and that bodies were lying in the streets unattended and unable to be buried.

There were also reports last night that Russian soldiers had taken some 400 staff and patients hostage at an intensive care hospital in the city.

“We received information that the Russian army captured our biggest hospital … and they’re using our patients and doctors like hostages,” said Mariupol mayor Sergei Orlov.

The Red Cross also said it was working to evacuate people from the northeastern town of Sumy near the Russian border in about 70 buses.

The number of people who have fled Ukraine since the start of the war has now reached 3 million, said officials.

In Moscow, the TV journalist who held an anti-war poster on live state TV news, Marina Ovsyannikova, was fined 30,000 roubles (£215) for her protest. There were further reports of other Russian journalists quitting last night.

Meanwhile, Fox News journalists Pierre Zakrzewski, a cameraman, and Oleksandra Kuvshynova, a producer, were killed when the vehicle they were travelling in was hit by fire on the outskirts of Kyiv, the network said.