Kremlin Rules Out Zelensky-Putin Talks Outside Moscow

February 4 ------ The Kremlin said negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could only take place in Moscow. Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia would not consider alternative venues for direct talks between the two leaders.

According to a Monday, Feb. 2 post by Russia’s state-run news agency TASS, Peskov also said that separate trilateral talks are scheduled for Thursday-Friday in Abu Dhabi. The meeting was postponed from Sunday due to additional scheduling among the three parties. After talks between the Ukrainian, Russian, and US delegations in Abu Dhabi, the United States did not rule out a possible Zelensky-Putin meeting in the near future.

Zelensky has categorically rejected the possibility of meeting Putin in Moscow and instead publicly invited the Kremlin leader to Kyiv. Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said on Jan. 28 that Zelensky could come to Moscow for talks with Putin if he is willing, claiming Russia would guarantee his safety and proper conditions. Commenting on Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha’s remarks about Zelensky’s readiness to meet, Ushakov said such a format was “not new” and had been discussed in phone calls with US President Donald Trump. He insisted Russia “has never refused” direct talks but said they must be carefully prepared and focused on concrete results.

Sybiha told European Pravda that Zelensky is ready to meet Putin because key issues – including control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and territorial questions – remain unresolved. He argued that Russia continues to obstruct a settlement.

Source: kyivpost.com