ISTANBUL:  The Ukrainian president on Friday said he will try to move the war schedule to talk to the Italian prime minister after Mario Draghi’s remarks.

“Today at 10:30 am at the entrances to Chernihiv, Hostomel and Melitopol there was heavy fighting. People died. Next time I’ll try to move the war schedule to talk to #MarioDraghi at a specific time. Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to fight for its people,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter.

Earlier, Draghi said he and Zelenskyy agreed to hold a phone call this morning, but he couldn’t make it because the Ukrainian president is no longer available.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow officially recognized Ukraine’s regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states earlier this week, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed that Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.,