Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The head of Russia's Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, commented on the possibility of a meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Vladimir Putin, proposing that the president of Ukraine come to Moscow. The Russian official called this proposal a gesture of goodwill and stated that there are no plans to stop the war for the duration of the talks.
He said this in an interview with Russian media.
What is known about the Russian reaction to the possible Zelenskiy–Putin meeting?
In the Russian foreign ministry, they reacted to the initiative to hold a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders in the United States.
"On this score, in my view, Dmitry Peskov has already spoken. An invitation to this person has been sent. If he wants to meet, let him come," said Sergei Lavrov, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian official noted that Moscow is allegedly open to negotiating with Ukraine. However, he immediately stressed that Russia will not halt the war during potential talks.
Moscow refuses to negotiate on neutral territory.
"And this is already a huge gesture of goodwill on our part, because he never canceled his decree banning contacts with Putin and his team. So we have no shortage of goodwill, and he, as I understand it, has ill intentions," Lavrov added boldly.
Earlier, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Russian president, also stated that if Ukraine desires to meet with Putin, the Ukrainian president should come to the capital of Russia.
At the same time, Yuri Ushakov, assistant to the Kremlin leader, said that the possibility of the Russian dictator's trip to the G20 summit in Miami has not even been discussed.
As reported on our site, Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced readiness to attend the G20 summit in the United States and to meet with the Russian leader if he participates in the event. Ukraine has repeatedly proposed holding direct talks on neutral soil, but Moscow has consistently refused such a proposal.
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