President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called the proposal of U.S. President Joe Biden to hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a third country as correct, since this dialogue could “resolve a number of issues.”
“I believe that this [Biden’s intention to meet with Putin on the territory of a third country] is correct. This is very […] timely, very important […] I think this could solve a number of issues, because there should be a dialogue between these countries. Sometimes, when such large states do not communicate, others suffer. Believe us, we understand that,” Zelensky said at a briefing following talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday.
At the same time, Zelensky said that if during the meeting the leaders of the United States and Russia raise the issue of Ukraine, which may well be relevant, then the discussion will not be “so substantive and correct.”
“It [the issue of Ukraine] will not be substantive, it will not be correct, and this will once again show that large countries are in size, they think that everything is around them, but it seems to me that the world is much larger,” the president said.
BIDEN, PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, PRESIDENT ZELENSKY, PUTIN
There are no specific plans for a possible meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, as of yet, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press on Tuesday. “There are more questions than answers. There are no plans concerning a possible meeting with President Zelensky as of yet,” Peskov said.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Iran, Ukraine, Syria, and Venezuela at their talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka on Friday, the White House said in a report. “They also discussed the situations in Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and Ukraine,” the White House said.
The presidents also exchanged opinions on issues such as bilateral relations and arms control, it said.
The meeting between Trump and Putin continued for almost an hour and a half.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he does not rule out the possibility of a meeting and talks with Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky.
“If we meet someday, begin some talks, and I’m not ruling this out, then we must talk how to end the conflict in southeastern Ukraine in the first place,” Putin said at press conference following his visit to China.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Zelensky has already made a statement before the election that he, firstly, is not going to sign a decree on a bill on amnesty and, secondly, [is not going] to grant special status to those territories [certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine],” Putin said.
“Both are the key elements of the content of the Minsk Agreements and how can the issue of the LPR and the DPR be resolved without implementing the Minsk Agreements?” the Russian president said.
“I would gladly ask him these question, discuss these matters with him,” Putin said.
Mentioning that the majority of Ukrainian citizens voted for Zelensky, the Russian president expressed the opinion that “first and foremost, the people expect the future Ukrainian political leadership to resolve these issues.”
“Everyone is fed up with this conflict, everyone is tired of it, and everyone expects this from the new political leadership, including the future president,” Putin said.
“But if from the very threshold, from the start the future president says he is not going to implement the Minsk Agreements, how will he resolve this issue then? I would be glad to discuss that with him, I would like to understand his stance,” the Russian president said.
