February 24, 2023 - It's now one year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was asked by a reporter if he would join negotiations mediated by Turkey if Russian President Vladimir Putin came to the table, and Zelensky said, "I don't accept it."

Erdogan "knows my view," Zelensky said. "We discussed this before the war. I told him to put Putin at the table for negotiations. 'Can we please do that? We must avert a full-scale war.' But [Erdogan] was not able to do that. Not only him — he is powerful — but he is not able to do it. And now he thinks that he is? Now we can't," Zelensky said Friday.

Zelensky explained why he cannot speak to Putin anymore.

"It is not the same man. There is nobody to talk to there," he said.

US President Joe Biden's visit to Kyiv showed "there was faith in victory," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday during a news conference in the Ukrainian capital. 

"There was faith in victory and that was President Biden's visit — that was the main signal," he said. 

Zelensky added that he has invited Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to Ukraine. In January, Milley traveled to a site near the Ukraine-Poland border and met with Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Speaking at the United Nations on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken seemed to tacitly downplay a proposal by Beijing to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

In what could be seen as a dig at China’s newly unveiled 12-point proposal “on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis,” Blinken said he expects “many countries will call for peace today,” but “history teaches us that it’s the nature of peace that matters.”

“For peace to be just, it must uphold the principles at the heart of the UN Charter: sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence. For peace to be durable, it must ensure Russia can’t simply rest, rearm and relaunch its war in a few months, or a few years,” he said. “Any peace that legitimizes Russia’s seizure of land by force will weaken the Charter and send a message to would-be aggressors everywhere that they can invade countries and get away with it.”

The 12-point plan released by Beijing Friday calls for a cessation of hostilities and resumption of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv. It states that “all parties should support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible, so as to gradually deescalate the situation and ultimately reach a comprehensive ceasefire.”

Blinken said members of the UN Security Council “should not fall into the false equivalency of calling on both sides to stop fighting, or calling on other nations to stop supporting Ukraine in the name of peace.”

The White House also publicly downplayed the viability of the Chinese proposal Friday. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the administration has read it and thinks, "quite frankly, it could have stopped right after the first two lines,” in which China alludes to respect for national sovereignty.

Some key context: Beijing’s claim to neutrality in its peace proposal has been severely undermined by its refusal to acknowledge the nature of the conflict – it has so far avoided calling it an “invasion” – and its diplomatic and economic support for Moscow.

Western officials have also raised concerns that China may be considering providing Russia with lethal military assistance, an accusation denied by Beijing.

And despite claiming the “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld,” the document fails to acknowledge Russia’s violation of Ukrainian sovereignty.

What Ukraine is saying: At an event in Kyiv held at the same time as Blinken's remarks to the UN, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to a question about China by saying he was willing to work with Beijing if they show respect for international law and his country's sovereignty.

CNN's Nectar Gan, Nikki Carvajal and Simone McCarthy contributed to this report.

When asked if NATO countries should increase their defense spending given the war in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia's invasion has forced the world and NATO countries to rethink their security systems.

"A lot of countries in the world (have) started increasing their defense budgets," he told reporters on Friday. "The war in Ukraine has pushed the reset button on NATO."

When thinking of defense spending, Zelensky said it's about more than just ammunition and weapons, and pointed to drones, IT, information sharing and defense against cyber attacks.

"There is a lot of state-of-the-art technology, and it is not universally effective. Of course, some people may be increasing spending. But on the whole, this is also a reform of security systems. I believe that this is right. Because everybody has seen what you can expect of the Russian Federation," he said at a news conference to mark one year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On the anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the international community not to let Putin’s crimes “become our new normal."

In his remarks at the United Nations Security Council on Friday — just over one year after he told the same council that Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine – Blinken stressed the need to stand for “the basic principles” of international order.

Blinken catalogued a litany of horrific actions committed by Russia over the past year, and spoke of the “inspiring unity” shown by Ukrainians “in helping one another endure Moscow’s relentless assault.” He also spoke of the way “the international community has come together.”

“That’s the world this body was created to end. And members of this council have a unique responsibility to make sure we don’t return to it,” he continued.

The top US diplomat said nations must “reaffirm our commitment to upholding what the UN Charter calls ‘the dignity and worth of the human person,’” emphasizing the need to continue to compile evidence of Russian atrocities, with the goal of one day achieving accountability for those crimes.

“Day after day of Russia’s atrocities, it’s easy to become numb to the horror, to lose our ability to feel shock and outrage,” he said. “But we can never let the crimes Russia is committing become our new normal.”

“We must not let President Putin’s callous indifference to human life become our own,” the secretary continued. “We must force ourselves to remember that behind every atrocity in this wretched war, and in conflicts around the world, is a human being.”

On the question of China, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnky said, "we need to work with China" if they can respect international law and territorial integrity.

"I believe it would be correct to think that if there are thoughts that are consistent with respect for international law and territorial integrity and certain security issues, I believe that we need to use it in a good sense of the word and work with China on this. Why not? Our task is to rally everybody to isolate somebody," he told reporters Friday.

Some background: China said it is willing to play a constructive role in resolving issues between Ukraine and Russia, its Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday in a daily briefing, without providing concrete details.  

The response, a recurrent line that China has been using when asked about its position on the war in Ukraine, was prompted by questions about a position paper issued by Beijing on Friday. 

Speaking on the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed confidence in his country's ability to fend off the attacks, but did not speculate on how soon the fighting could end.

Zelensky said he is "certain" Ukraine will drive Moscow's forces from the country "if we stay as one strong fist and work for a victory," when asked to comment on the timeframe of the war. 

"We have everything for it. We have the motivation, certainty, the friends, the diplomacy. You have all come together for this," Zelensky said.

CNN's Radina Gigova contributed to this report.

As President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted a news conference on the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky observed a moment of silence for journalists killed while reporting on the war in Ukraine.

Calling journalism an important profession, he said, "it would be fair to honor the journalists with a minute of silence — those who will be in our memory."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is marking the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion with an address from Kyiv.