In an interview with Axios, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that the Ukrainian delegation should open the topic of his personal meeting with Vladimir Putin in Geneva. The dispute over control of Donbass remains unresolved.
In an interview with the American news website Axios, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that he ordered the Ukrainian delegation to raise the question of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the ongoing negotiations in Geneva. TASR reports on this on the basis of the Meduza news server, which Russia included on the list of foreign agents.
According to Zelensky, a personal meeting with Putin would be the best way to “achieve a breakthrough in the territorial issue.” Control over the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, claimed by Russia, remains one of the most contentious issues, Axios noted.
Negotiations on Donbass
In this regard, Meduza recalled that American negotiators proposed that Ukraine completely withdraw its troops from Donbass, which would turn it into a demilitarized “free economic zone.” Zelenskyy is ready to negotiate the withdrawal of troops, but he called on Moscow to withdraw its forces to the same distance.
The Ukrainian president has repeatedly spoken about his willingness to meet with Putin in any neutral place. However, the Kremlin insists that such a meeting can only take place in Moscow, Meduza recalled.
Geneva negotiations
According to the website Axios, which cited its sources, the political part of the talks reached an impasse on Tuesday, during the first day of negotiations in Geneva, although the group assessing the military issues “continued to make progress”. Axios says this is related to the position expressed by the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky.
