Russia does not rule out a meeting between its President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky as a way to achieve peace, but such a meeting must follow previously agreed conditions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by DPA, BTA reports.
“Putin believes that a high-level meeting must be well prepared and confirm the results achieved at the expert level“, Peskov told local media. At the same time, he noted that in the diplomatic field at the moment “there is not much activity“ on this issue.
Peskov's remarks follow a statement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said yesterday that he did not expect talks between Putin and Zelensky for the time being.
“Our interest and readiness for such talks remain“, Peskov said. He added that Russia has set out in writing its positions on resolving the conflict in Ukraine. Among other demands, Russia calls on Ukraine to give up the territories annexed by Moscow. Zelensky categorically rejects any territorial concessions.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that French President Emmanuel Macron spoke in a manner unbecoming of a head of state when he called Putin “a predator at our gates” in a recent interview, Reuters reported. According to her, the head of the Fifth Republic constantly makes strange statements that sometimes cross the line of decency and turn into “low-quality insults“.