Moscow’s chief negotiator sets conditions for Putin-Zelensky meeting

(MENAFN) Moscow’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky stated on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky should meet only after a peace treaty is fully prepared for signing. The comments came following the third round of peace talks in Istanbul.

While Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the Kiev delegation, had proposed a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders as early as next month to help break the negotiation deadlock, Medinsky argued that such a meeting would be futile unless the terms are already agreed upon.

“The meeting must be properly prepared, and only then will it make sense. We have conveyed this position to the Ukrainian delegation,” Medinsky said.

He emphasized, “For such a meeting to take place, we must first agree on the terms of the deal and have a clear understanding of the agenda. In essence, the meeting should serve not to negotiate the agreement, but to sign it. There’s no point in meeting only to begin negotiations from square one.”

Medinsky cited historical precedent, referencing the Chinese Civil War, where multiple meetings between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong did not resolve core conflicts despite formal talks. “They met five times, smiled, and posed for photographs, but it did not bring an end to the civil war,” he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also underscored that finalizing agreements would be necessary before a Putin-Zelensky meeting could take place.

Despite Putin’s past questioning of Zelensky’s legitimacy, he had indicated last month openness to meet him at the final stage of negotiations.

Zelensky, whose five-year presidential term expired in May 2024, has declined to call new elections citing ongoing martial law. Moscow has made lifting martial law a condition for a lasting ceasefire and demands Ukraine hold elections within 100 days after its removal.

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