MOSCOW. April 8 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has been and remains an advocate of dialogue for settling any problems as long as this does not involve provocation, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in commenting on Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky's declared willingness to communicate with Putin to settle the conflict in Donbas.
"Putin is open to dialogue, with the exception of situations when attempts are made to frame this dialogue with various provocative acts and embellish it with subversion. In this case, Putin's reaction is very clear, unambiguous and resolute," Peskov said.
"But at the same time, Putin has always been and remains an advocate of dialogue for settling any problems on the agenda," he said.
"President Putin has been in favor of a serious dialogue since the very start of this story," Peskov said. "That aside, Putin has said repeatedly that the main thing for settling the conflict in Donbas is not a dialogue with Moscow, as Moscow is not a party to this conflict. This is an internal Ukrainian conflict, and it's the Ukrainians themselves who are able to settle it if they talk to each other," Peskov said.
Asked by a Ukrainian journalist whether this means that the two presidents will not have contacts on Donbas following the Ukrainian elections, Peskov replied, "No, it doesn't mean that at all."