NATO should work out common security guarantees for Ukraine if it is not ready to accept it into its membership, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

"Our partners, if they are not ready to take Ukraine into NATO ... because Russia does not want Ukraine to be in NATO, should work out common security guarantees for Ukraine," Zelensky said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday.

The head of state clarified that Kyiv needs legal security guarantees, which would include guarantees of territorial integrity, border protection, as well as Ukraine's special relations with all neighbors and security.