The EU is preparing “for potential” talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Financial Times reported today, citing a senior official, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
According to the publication, European Council President Antonio Costa said that the EU has the support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for this potential move.
Reuters notes that it cannot confirm the reliability of this information through independent sources.
All parties to the trilateral talks to resolve the conflict in Ukraine currently understand what needs to be done to achieve significant progress, Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told journalists, quoted by TASS.
„Everyone understands, including, I would say, the Ukrainian negotiators, that now Kiev needs to take only one serious step, and then first: military action will be suspended, and secondly: a prospect will open for serious discussion of the prospects for further long-term settlement of this problem“, Ushakov said.
“Everyone understands this, and therefore now, frankly, trying to convince each other is largely a waste of time, because at the moment this step is expected from Kiev, in particular from (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky. If he manages to do it, then we will make significant progress in resolving this situation“, the Kremlin representative emphasized.
Ukrinform Agency points out that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said in the past that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from Donbas in order for negotiations to continue.
According to Ushakov, after several rounds of trilateral talks in Geneva, there have been no more contacts regarding Ukraine in this format. He believes that Washington is busy with another, “quite serious and important problem“.
After the meetings in Geneva in February, Kremlin officials said that Moscow was ready to withdraw from the negotiation process if its demands were not met. The demands are for territorial concessions from Kiev, as almost all other issues have allegedly already been resolved, Ukrinform agency notes.