Peace discussions will be more "realistic," according to Ukraine's president; Biden will travel to NATO.

 Reuters, LVIV/KYIV, Ukraine, March 16 - On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed that peace negotiations were sounding more plausible, but that more time was required, as Russian air strikes killed five people in Kyiv's capital and the number of refugees displaced by Moscow's invasion surpassed 3 million.

Following its incursion, which began on February 24 and is the greatest assault on a European state since 1945, Moscow has failed to conquer any of Ukraine's ten main cities.

Ukrainian officials have expressed optimism that the war could finish sooner than predicted, maybe by May, citing Moscow's failure to establish a new government by force and the fact that it has run out of new troops.

"The discussions are still going on, and from what I've heard, the positions taken during the negotiations are already sounding more plausible. However, more time is required for choices to be made in Ukraine's best interests "In a video message on Wednesday, Zelenskiy stated his position ahead of the next round of discussions.

Earlier this week, Zelenskiy hinted at a possible compromise by saying that Ukraine was willing to accept security guarantees from the West that fell short of its long-term aim of joining NATO. Any future membership of Ukraine in the Western alliance is seen as a threat by Moscow, who has demanded guarantees that it will never join.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said it was too early to anticipate progress in the discussions. "The work is arduous, and the fact that (the negotiations) are continuing is probably positive in the current situation."

Russia's efforts are being described as a "special military operation" aimed at demilitarizing and "denazifying" Ukraine. Ukraine and its Western allies see this as a spurious excuse for a self-declared war that has sparked concerns of wider European confrontation.

The White House said that US President Joe Biden will go to Europe for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine next week to discuss the problem with NATO allies.

On March 24, Biden will attend a NATO leaders' summit at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.

According to a White House official, Biden is scheduled to offer an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine on Wednesday.