Kremlin Believes Putin, Zelensky Unlikely to Meet in 2021
11:09 GMT 04.10.2021 (Updated: 19:04 GMT 03.11.2022)
© Sputnik / Grigory SysoevRussian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech at a congress of the ruling United Russia party in Moscow, Russia August 24, 2021
© Sputnik / Grigory Sysoev
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has never been against meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, but it is necessary to decide what could be discussed, and negotiations are unlikely to take place this year, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
"To be honest, we see no prerequisites for this now. No new elements have appeared. President Putin has never rejected the possibility to meet, moreover, he has said he is ready to meet. But first, it would be proper to decide what the two presidents would discuss, and we see no progress here", Peskov told reporters when asked if the top-level negotiations could be held by the end of the year.
This weekend, Zelensky said he was ready to meet with Putin behind closed doors. He said this could be a "very in-depth face-to-face conversation".
© AFP 2023 / HANDOUTThis handout photograph taken and released by The Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on April 20, 2021, shows Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking during his late evening address in Kiev.
This handout photograph taken and released by The Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on April 20, 2021, shows Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking during his late evening address in Kiev.
© AFP 2023 / HANDOUT
Zelensky's office previously suggested that the Ukrainian president is ready to meet Putin - but only if the issue of territories that Kiev considers occupied is raised at the talks. In response, the Kremlin stressed that the issue of Crimea cannot be discussed at the potential summit, as the peninsula is a part of Russia.