Russia Leaves Open Possibility of Putin-Zelensky Summit, Says It Must Be a "Results-Driven" Meeting

Russia said it is not ruling out a summit itself between President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but stressed that any meeting must be one capable of delivering tangible results.

According to TASS on the 29th, Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy aide, said in an interview the previous day with Pavel Zarubin, a reporter for Russian state television, that "Russia never refuses contact between President Putin and President Zelensky," adding that "the talks must be thoroughly prepared and should focus on producing specific and positive outcomes."

He added that "President Putin has repeatedly said he is willing to invite President Zelensky to Moscow if Zelensky is sincerely prepared for talks," and that "Russia will guarantee his security and all necessary conditions."

Earlier, President Putin proposed holding a Russia-Ukraine leaders' summit in Moscow at a press conference after returning from a visit to China in September last year. President Zelensky did not accept, instead counterproposing that President Putin visit Kyiv.

Ushakov said the issue of a meeting between the two leaders was also discussed in a phone call between President Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. "This is not an unfamiliar issue for us, and it has been raised multiple times in calls between President Putin and President Trump," he said, adding that "President Trump in particular suggested we consider that possibility."

With the U.S., Russia and Ukraine holding trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on March 23-24 over a Ukraine peace plan presented by the United States, the prospect of a Putin-Zelensky meeting has come back into focus.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the trilateral talks held in Abu Dhabi are tentatively scheduled to resume on the 1st of next month. Responding to Ukraine's claim that two peace treaties would be concluded under U.S. mediation, he drew a line, saying, "No list of documents is being discussed at this time."

He added, "These negotiations are dealing with very sensitive and complex issues," stressing that "publicly discussing specifics does not help the talks."

By Joo-wan Kim kjwan@hankyung.com