Putin claims that he is ready to negotiate with Zelensky, but conditions the meeting on a long-term peace agreement. He would like Schröder as a European mediator.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Saturday that he is ready for direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He appointed German ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder as a possible mediator for Europe, TASR writes about it according to the DPA agency.
- Vladimir Putin declared readiness for direct negotiations with Volodymyr Zelensky.
- Putin insists that each partner must come to Moscow in person.
- A personal meeting outside of Moscow is conditioned by a pre-agreed long-term peace agreement.
- Robert Fico mediated the Kiev references, the Kremlin called them outdated and repetitive.
- Putin prefers Gerhard Schröder, his friend and ex-chancellor, as the European mediator.
“Anyone who wants to meet me has to come to Moscow,” Putin said at a press conference in Moscow after a Victory Day military parade that did not include armored vehicles. According to him, it is not a direct invitation to Zelensky, but he is ready to meet him. “We can meet somewhere other than Moscow, but only if a long-term peace agreement is reached beforehand,” he said.
Slovak reference for the Kremlin
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, according to his own words, handed the head of the Kremlin a message from the Ukrainian president, who declared readiness for a personal meeting with Putin in any format.
According to Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov, the attitude of the Russian president is not changing. He called the messages from Kiev, which were transmitted by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, obsolete and had already been heard before, saying that they “were transmitted through many intermediaries, including Trump.”
European mediator Schröder
“There was no personal message,” Putin recalled, according to DPA. “But this isn’t the first time we’ve heard it.” He also said that, from the European side, he could imagine his friend and former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder as the mediator of the talks: “Of all the European politicians, I would prefer talks with Schröder,” he said.
The former head of the German Social Democrats is viewed controversially in his homeland. Shortly after leaving top politics, he worked in the management of Nord Stream 2 and after the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, he refused to leave his positions in Russian state enterprises. He did not condemn Moscow for military aggression and criticized anti-Russian sanctions.
