Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky within the framework of the "Big Twenty" (G20) summit to be held in Miami in December is impossible, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian leader, told AFP.
"It's impossible," Peskov said on Saturday in New Delhi, commenting on Zelensky's statement that he is ready to meet with Putin within the framework of the summit to negotiate the end of the conflict. The representative of the Kremlin emphasized again that Moscow is ready to hold such a meeting only in the capital of Russia.
When asked whether the Kremlin is considering an alternative place for negotiations with Zelensky, Peskov answered: "There is a willingness to meet with him in Moscow."
The G20 summit will be held in Miami on December 14-15. So far, it is not confirmed whether Putin will participate in it.
Zelensky announced his willingness to meet with the Russian president in an interview with the German Deutsche Welle, which was published on Saturday. According to him, the leaders should meet, discuss the situation and make decisions, because it is not the words, but the results that are important.
The offer was made in the background when the USA is trying to resume negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. This week US President Donald Trump had a phone conversation with Putin, and the US leader's special envoy Steve Wittkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Kiev.
Kushner said at a security forum in Kiev on Friday that he expects to announce the "next steps" in the negotiation process in the next few weeks.
Zelensky called Wittkoff's and Kushner's visits to Moscow and Kiev "a good signal" and emphasized that it is important that American representatives visited both capitals. He also announced plans to meet with Trump at the end of September.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine now has a stronger position on the battlefield than a year ago, and therefore believes that it has good conditions for negotiations.
At the same time, the previous several rounds of negotiations between Moscow and Kiev did not lead to an agreement. The parties maintain significant differences, and mutual mistrust remains high. In recent months, Russia and Ukraine have also intensified long-range strikes on each other's territory.
