Zelensky refused to come to Moscow to meet Putin

A meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow is impossible—it would be the same as meeting him in Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this, adding that he is publicly inviting Putin to come to Kyiv if he dares to do so.

“Of course it’s impossible for me to meet Putin in Moscow. It’s the same as meeting Putin in Kyiv. I can also invite him to Kyiv—let him come. I’m publicly inviting him, if he decides to, of course,” Zelensky said during a meeting with journalists.

He emphasized that Ukraine takes the need to end the war seriously.

“I said that any real format for a meeting of leaders works. I don’t know what result it would bring. But at the very least it would definitely bring more than what’s happening today,” the head of state stressed.

He added that Ukraine has always favored Europeans being involved in the process, though he is not sure the other parties would support such a format specifically for a leaders’ meeting.

“Not regarding security guarantees, for example, but precisely on especially difficult issues. I have always said: I am ready for any format to end the war that works. But in Moscow and in Belarus it’s simply impossible, and it’s absolutely clear why—because these are states, one of which is the aggressor that started and is waging a war against us, killing us, and the other country is its partner in these actions,” Zelensky emphasized.

As reported, Russian media on Thursday circulated remarks by Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov about the possible venue for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin—Moscow.

“We are talking about Moscow for now,” Peskov said when asked whether the Russian side was ready to meet Zelensky in the UAE.

Peskov noted that in the matter of organizing a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, “hypothetical considerations are inappropriate.”