Putin now open to real meetings, talks formats under consideration — Zelenskyy
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy (photo: president.gov.ua)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed he is ready for direct meetings. Ukraine has long been prepared for negotiations aimed at ending the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Possible negotiation formats
According to the head of state, the Ukrainian side has been ready for meetings for a long time. The key task now is to define a specific dialogue framework.
"We have already pushed him a bit. And we have long been prepared for meetings, so we need to find a format. The war must end, and security must be reliably guaranteed," Zelenskyy stressed.
The president emphasized that the main goal of such talks should not only be to cease hostilities but also to establish reliable security guarantees for Ukraine.
Ukraine-Russia talks
Earlier, on May 9, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said he was ready to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a third country. The Kremlin's main condition for such a meeting would be signing a final agreement between the two countries.
At the same time, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who delivered a message from the Ukrainian president to Putin, said that Zelenskyy should personally call his Russian counterpart if he truly wants talks to end the war.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin continues to stall humanitarian processes. In particular, Putin claimed that Ukraine is allegedly "not ready" for a large-scale prisoner swap, effectively derailing the agreed 1,000-for-1,000 exchange.
