Putin pours cold water on Zelensky meeting

Defense &National Security

Defense &National Security

Putin pours cold water on Zelensky meeting

Russian President Vladimir Putin poured cold water on the prospect of meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in person, arguing there is no reason to have diplomatic talks to potentially end the Russia-Ukraine war. 

© Vadym Sarakhan, AP; Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin pool via AP

“I don’t see any point for now,” Putin said Friday at Russia’s annual economic forum in St. Petersburg. 

“Was it a way to create the conditions for a face-to-face meeting or a way not to set up a face-to-face meeting? I think it was the second,” the Russian leader said, according to the BBC. 

Putin’s comments came after Zelensky wrote an open letter to the Russian president, requesting a meeting between the two leaders in a third-party country to hammer out a potential end to the war in Eastern Europe that has crossed into its fifth year. 

“We see that the United States is fully focused on the issue of Iran, and it would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the center of its attention,” Zelensky wrote in the letter. “Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us — and you.” The Russian president characterized the note as “rude.”

Putin argued in St. Petersburg that a halt in fighting would allow Kyiv to rearm, but Moscow’s demands would not be met. He also indicated that a meeting, which is supported by President Trump, could take place after the “experts get to work and come up with some solutions.” “The only point is for the Ukrainian side to halt the advance of our armed forces. But we need agreements — not for six months, not for three months, but for the long term,” Putin said on Friday. “Military actions will end some day, we assume. Without a doubt, they will end once we have achieved the goals we have set for ourselves.”

On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a measure that greenlights funding for military aid to Ukraine and more sanctions on Russia, with 18 Republicans and one independent joining........

© The Hill