Zelenskyy says 'nobody' but Putin 'has the power to stop the war'

• Zelenskyy said that no one but Russian President Vladmir Putin "has the power to stop the war."
• "He alone decides when this war will end," Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a new interview that no one but Putin has the authority to stop the war.

"Today, the Ukraine has no other option to sit down and negotiate – but in Russia, nobody but Putin has the power to stop the war other than Putin. He alone decides when this war will end," Zelenskyy said Friday during an interview with BILD, which is owned by Axel Springer, Insider's parent company.

This week, a Ukraine peace negotiator said that the tone surrounding peace talks has turned darker following accusations that Russian forces killed over 300 civilians in Bucha, a town outside Kyiv.

"Today, there is some change in the negotiating background, in connection with the events in the Kyiv region, not only Bucha – and this leaves a certain imprint, Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Zelenskyy, said, per RBC-Ukraine.

Podolyak continued: "This is not a question of the actual conduct of negotiations, but of the emotional background on which these negotiations are conducted. Ukrainian society is now much more negative about any negotiation concept that concerns the Russian Federation."

Since Putin invaded Ukraine in late February, officials from both parties have participated in peace talks, but have yet to reach an agreement, as Insider reported.

On Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told NPR that the ongoing conflict could " last for months and even years," although Russian officials said that the war could end in the "foreseeable future. "