A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “possible” only if Moscow and Kyiv have reached prior “agreements,” the Kremlin stated on Saturday, following the first direct peace talks between the two sides since 2022.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov emphasised that such a meeting, resulting from bilateral work and agreements, is possible but only after accords have been established.
On Friday, the Ukrainian delegation proposed a summit between the leaders to seek a resolution to the conflict, to which Moscow responded by saying it “took note.”
A meeting of this kind would be the first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a conflict claiming tens of thousands of civilian and military lives and causing immense destruction.
Currently, the positions of Moscow and Kyiv remain irreconcilable.
President Putin demands Ukraine’s non-membership in NATO, the country’s demilitarisation, and the retention of Ukrainian territories annexed in 2022, along with Crimea, occupied since 2014.
More broadly, the Russian leader calls for an overhaul of Europe’s security framework, viewing NATO’s expansion towards Russian borders as an existential threat.
Ukraine and its European allies firmly reject these demands, arguing that the Russian military, which still occupies nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory, is waging an imperialist war in the former Soviet republic.
President Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.
The peace talks in Istanbul on Friday, the first since spring 2022, did not achieve a ceasefire, as Ukraine and its allies had hoped, but only led to the announcement of a significant prisoner exchange, highlighting the chasm between the parties’ positions.
For further direct talks, Dmitry Peskov stated on Saturday that they would only be possible once this prisoner exchange has been completed.
