PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY. Sept 6 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and move together toward normalizing bilateral relations, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
"If we talk about the political will of President Putin, he confirmed and reconfirmed it loud and clear: he is ready to meet and he believes that the sad state which Russian-Ukrainian relations are in is no good, and supposedly, this ought to be repaired. But at this point, we're not seeing the same reciprocal political will from Kyiv," Peskov said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin for the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin television show on the Rossiya 1 (VGTRK) channel.
There is no progress yet in terms of preparing such a meeting, Peskov said.
"The thing is that the Crimea issue does not exist for us. However, the Ukrainian president's office is telling us that Zelensky wishes to discuss Crimea. Well, Crimea, [but] from what perspective? Clearly, not from the standpoint that this is a region of the Russian Federation. And in this respect, that cannot be an item on the negotiating agenda. So in this respect, we haven't advanced anywhere. Still in square one, as they say," he said.
Peskov was also asked as to what extent the meeting is needed, considering Zelensky's statements. It is for the Ukrainian people to assess Zelensky's work and statements, he said.
"We can only state that the Russian Federation represented by President Putin confirms once again the desire to go for the normalization of relations with Ukraine,"Peskov said.