Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he had proposed a meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France this week to discuss ending the four-year war, but the Russian leader was not ready for dialogue.
Zelensky proposed to Putin to meet at the G7 summit PHOTO Archive
Zelensky, located at o historic monastery in Kyiv damaged by an attack launched by Russia overnight, he said the United States had agreed to invite Putin to the meeting starting Monday in Evian-les-Bains, writes Reuters.
“We sent the message that we are ready to meet Putin during the G7 summit, because Trump is there and Macron is there, so Europe together with America. I think it is a good opportunity, even a very good one, for all of us to meet”Zelensky told reporters, speaking in English.
“Europe and the United States have agreed, and Russia has demonstrated again that… it is not ready to talk”he added.
A Ukrainian official stated that Zelensky presented the proposal to the Americans and French President Emmanuel Macron the discussions within the G7. Ukraine also sent the invitation directly to Russian representatives, but did not receive a clear response, the official said.
Macron’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One open letter to Vladimir Putinthe leader from Kiev proposed setting a clear date for a direct meeting between the two heads of state, with the aim of identifying a way to end the war. Zelenski also suggested that representatives of Europe and the United States could also participate in a possible bilateral format, in order to provide additional guarantees for a possible peace process.
In response, Vladimir Putin stated that, at the moment, he does not see the point of a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart. The Russian leader said he had reviewed Zelensky’s letter, which he described as a document containing “elements of disrespect” and which, in his opinion, does not contribute to the creation of the necessary conditions for a high-level meeting.
The two presidents last met face-to-face in Paris in December 2019 during the Normandy Format negotiations, mediated by France and Germany.
