Zelensky Offers to Meet Putin for One-on-One, In-Person Talks
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that he’s prepared to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to the Italian broadcaster Rai 1, Zelensky said, “I am ready to talk to Putin, but only to him. Without any of his intermediaries. And in the framework of dialogue, not ultimatums.”
Russian and Ukrainian representatives have been engaged in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine since March, following Russia’s invasion of the country in late February. After an initial dialogue on the border with Belarus, a Russian ally, these meetings are now being held in Ankara, Turkey.
Zelensky had previously called for a meeting with Putin, but only recently stated that it would be in person. During the war, Zelensky has appeared via videoconference in bilateral meetings with a host of foreign leaders and delivered addresses to foreign parliaments. Other dignitaries, most recently including British prime minister Boris Johnson, as well as U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of defense Lloyd Austin, have visited Kyiv and held meetings with Zelensky in person.
However, Zelensky cautioned that a meeting may not occur due to Russia’s conduct during the war in Ukraine, saying that the terms of any meeting would be “complicated” to obtain. Retreating Russian forces have previously been accused of war crimes and unlawful killing of Ukrainian civilians, particularly in the town of Bucha. On Thursday, new footage obtained by CNN showed Russian soldiers shooting two Ukrainians in the back before ransacking a car dealership on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“It is because every day small towns are being de-occupied, and we see the traces of harassment, torture, executions left by Russian military. That is why the possibility of talks gets complicated,” Zelensky said.
For its part, the Kremlin has said that any meeting between Putin and Zelensky will only happen after the Ankara Process, when a peace treaty is ready. “We do not reject the possibility of such a meeting for our President,” Russian presidential spokesman Dimitry Peskov said on April 6, “but we repeat once again that such a meeting is possible only after the text of the document is agreed upon,” he added. The Kremlin has not commented upon Zelensky’s latest offer.
An unofficial meeting between both leaders, however, may be in the offing at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November. Indonesian president Joko Widodo has extended an offer to Zelensky to attend, which he acknowledged on Twitter. He did not state whether he would accept the offer or send a deputy. Russia is a member of the G20, an informal group of the world’s 19 largest economies and the European Union, and Putin – a long time attendee – received an invitation. The Russian ambassador to Indonesia, Lyudmila Vorobieva, said that Putin intends to attend the meeting.
