Ukraine does not need mediators for exchanging and liberating captives in Donbas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"I'd like to say once again: never in my life have I talked with Mr. Medvedchuk, either during my presidency or in principle during my whole life. This is true," Zelensky said at a news briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, referring to Viktor Medvedchuk, the head of the political council of the Opposition Platform – For Life Party.

"I don't understand why we should have mediators. He knows my attitude toward this," he said.

Zelensky also said he wondered why Medvedchuk raised the question of liberating the captives shortly before the elections. "This is a very important question – why has he brought up the issue of returning the captives and why has he brought up the issue of ending the war only before the elections?" he said.