KYIV. Sept 13 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is willing to hold a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but the issue of "Crimea's occupation" should be addressed at that meeting, Ukrainian presidential press secretary Serhiy Nykyforov said.
"Indeed, there is the Ukrainian president's will to meet personally with the Russian president anytime and anywhere within a neutral territory. Either on the disengagement line, or in any other place in neutral territory, but not in Russia and not in Ukraine," Nykyforov said on the Dom television channel.
He believes that Crimea should be the main topic of talks at the summit.
"It is necessary that the issue of Russia's occupation of a part of the territory of Ukraine be addressed at this meeting. Therefore, the talks and contacts regarding this meeting are being really maintained at some level, but it is imperative to ensure that this most important issue is put on the agenda that Russia certainly does not want to," Zelensky's spokesman said.
He said that Russia opposes such a meeting and, in his opinion, does not intend to put the issue of Crimea on the agenda of this meeting.
"Why then meet? What to discuss at a meeting? What topic is now more important in relations between Russia and Ukraine than Russia's occupation of certain territories of Ukraine?" Nykyforov said.
At the same time, the Kremlin noted that the issue of Crimea could not be a topic for discussion at the probable summit.
On September 5, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Putin stands ready to meet with Zelensky and move together toward normalizing bilateral relations.
"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.
On September 2, Peskov said that Putin and Zelensky are unlikely to meet before the end of this year, as the administrations of the two leaders are far from agreeing on an agenda for these talks. He noted that meetings at the highest level ought to be thoroughly prepared and pursue certain goals.
"As regards preparations, there are still major problems with determining the range of issues that could be discussed," Peskov said.
Zelensky insists on the need to discuss the issue of Crimea, he said.
"It's not that President Putin isn't ready [to discuss this issue]. Rather, there is no substance for discussion," the Kremlin spokesman said.