Kyiv: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s suggestion to meet in Moscow, calling the choice of such an unrealistic meeting place a sign that Russia is not genuinely interested in negotiations.
The Ukrainian leader said in an interview with US media, “I can’t go to the capital of this terrorist” because Ukraine is “under missile attacks, under fire every day”.
“(Putin) can come to Kyiv,” Zelensky said in response, as quoted by EuroNews.
US President Donald Trump has been pushing for face-to-face talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. A bilateral or trilateral meeting was one of the main goals of Trump’s summit with Putin in Alaska last month.
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Trump later said Putin and Zelenskyy would meet after the Ukrainian president visits Washington and talks with European leaders, but Moscow has been putting additional conditions on the table, stalling a decision and stepping up shelling of Ukrainian cities.
This week, Putin said he was “ready” to meet with Zelenskyy, but in Moscow. On Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explained that Zelenskyy had been invited to the Russian capital “to talk, not to capitulate,” as per EuroNews.
The day before, speaking in Paris after the summit of the “coalition of the resolute,” Zelenskyy commented on Putin’s invitation.
“I believe that if you want the meeting not to take place, you should invite me to Moscow,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the fact that the Russian leadership voiced any options for a personal meeting at all is an accomplishment on its own, as per EuroNews.
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On Saturday, Zelenskyy wrote on social media that Russia launched more than 1,300 drones, nearly 900 guided bombs and some 50 missiles of various types at Ukraine during the first five days of September.
He said the strikes hit 14 regions of the country, as per EuroNews.
“Something will happen, but they are not ready yet… We’re going to do it,” Trump told US media the same day, without specifying any timeline for talks that Washington would find acceptable, EuroNews reported.
