Kremlin said on Friday (25) that a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could only happen as a final step to close a peace agreement.
In a telephone call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was unlikely that such a meeting will take place by the end of August, as proposed by Ukraine. He once again described the negotiation positions on both sides as “diametrically opposite.”
A Ukrainian delegate said after Wednesday (23) that Kiev had proposed a meeting between Putin and Zelensky in August because that would occur within 50 days that US President Donald Trump had settled last week for an agreement.
Understand the war in Ukraine
Russia began the large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently has about one fifth from the territory of the neighboring country.
Still in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizehzia.
The Russians slowly advance through the east and Moscow gives no signs of abandoning their main war goals. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, president of the United States, pressures for a peace agreement.
Ukraine has made increasingly bold attacks within Russia and says the operations aim to destroy essential infrastructure of the Russian army.
Putin’s government, in turn, intensified air attacks, including drones offensive.
Both sides deny target civilians, but thousands died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainians.
Thousands of soldiers are also believed to have died on the front, but neither side releases numbers of military lows. The United States claim that 1.2 million people were injured or killed in the war.
