The Kremlin on Friday said Russian President Vladimir Putin can meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy only as the final step of sealing the peace deal to end the ongoing war.
"A summit meeting can and should put the final point on a settlement and cement the modalities and agreements worked out by experts. It is impossible to do it the other way round," Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov told reporters. Peskov said it was unlikely that such meeting would take place in late August as proposed by Ukraine. "Is it possible to go through such a complex process in 30 days? Well, obviously, it is unlikely. It is unlikely that they can be brought together overnight. This will require very complex diplomatic work,” Peskov stated.
Ukraine has been pushing for a meeting between the two countries’ leaders in order to reach a breakthrough in the war, which is in its fourth year. Earlier this month, Zelenskiy proposed a one-on-one meeting with Putin.
Delegations from the two countries have engaged in three rounds of brief sessions in Turkey’s Istanbul city since May. The talks in Istanbul have failed to produce any breakthrough in peace talks, however resulted in exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and remains of slain soldiers from both sides. The Ukrainian delegation stated after a brief session in Istanbul on Wednesday that Kyiv had proposed a Putin-Zelenskiy meeting in August, as it would fall within the 50-day deadline set up by US President Donald Trump to end the war. Two weeks ago, Trump set a 50-day deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine, threatening Moscow with economic sanctions if the deadline is not met.
