Ukraine’s President’s Office believes the Kremlin is trying to avoid a three-way leaders’ meeting format and is therefore talking about various invitations for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit Moscow, or phone contacts.
Presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said this in response to a question from Ukrainska Pravda.
The outlet asked whether the President is considering the option of a phone call with the Kremlin, as the President of Finland and the Prime Minister of Norway recently did on 27 October.
“This is not the first time the Russians have talked either about a call or about ‘let him come to Moscow’ in order to wriggle out of the need for a three-way format at leaders’ level. It is logical that key issues must be resolved at leaders’ level, but that means a meeting and the corresponding conversation, agreement and guarantees, which are obviously difficult to deliver when it is just a call,” Lytvyn said.
On Friday 30 October, the Kremlin said that Russia’s ruler Vladimir Putin is open to dialogue with everyone, including French President Emmanuel Macron or German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. As for the possibility of a phone conversation with the head of the Ukrainian state, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they are giving evasive answers.
- During a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that talks on ending the war, including on territories and security guarantees, must take place at leaders’ level
- He expects that a three-way meeting between Ukraine, the United States and Russia will take place between 6 and 10 November.