Russian President Vladimir Putin would be willing to speak by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy if the Ukrainian leader initiated the call, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.
Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin, Ushakov said Putin would likely answer such a call, Interfax reported.
“I think he would answer, of course. Putin has never refused to talk,” Ushakov said.
The possibility of direct contact between the two presidents has resurfaced following Putin’s telephone conversations with the leaders of Finland and Norway on October 27.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly expressed his willingness to meet Putin in person, including in a trilateral format involving US President Donald Trump. Moscow, however, insists that any such meeting take place in the Russian capital, a condition Kyiv considers unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Presidential Office remains skeptical of the Kremlin’s proposals.
On October 30, Zelenskyy’s adviser Dmytro Lytvyn accused Russia of using suggestions of a phone call or a meeting in Moscow to avoid trilateral negotiations at the leadership level.
According to Lytvyn, resolving the key issues surrounding the war requires more than a telephone conversation. It calls for a direct meeting between leaders, concrete agreements and guarantees that those agreements will be implemented.
Support the authors
of Ukraine Brief
→
Leave a comment