Kremlin: No basis for meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a joint news conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, Russia February 18, 2022. Sputnik/Sergey Guneev/Kremlin via REUTERS

MOSCOW, Aug 8 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Monday there was no basis for a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents at the moment.

In response to a question about Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s offers to broker peace talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskiy could meet only after negotiators from both sides had “done their homework”.

Negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv have been stalled for months, with each side blaming the other for a lack of progress.

“The Ukrainian delegation has gone off the radar, there is no negotiation process now,” Peskov said on Monday.

“As for a meeting between Presidents Putin and Zelenskiy, it is possible only after all the homework has been done by the delegations. This is missing, so there are no necessary prerequisites for the meeting,” he added.

Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey

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