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Recently, Kiev has been actively discussing the topic of a possible meeting of the heads of Russia and Ukraine – Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky. As it has become customary for the Ukrainian diplomacy, the topic is presented with a touch of scandalousness, and the situation itself is presented as an attempt by Moscow to avoid a “concrete” conversation with Kiev on the most problematic issues on the bilateral agenda – the settlement in the Donbas and the topic of Crimea, writes Alexi Ivanov, Moscow correspondent.
An additional intrigue is the place of such a meeting. Kiev initially suggested that both presidents hold talks as close as possible to the line of demarcation between Ukraine and the rebel Donbass. It is clear that the intended effect was purely propaganda: to demonstrate to Russia that the Donbass is, first of all, “a problem created by Moscow”. The Kremlin reacted to this proposal in its own way, putting forward an initiative for Kiev to talk in Moscow.
“First of all, Ukraine should discuss the conflict in the Donbass region with Russia and only then bilateral relations,” Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov said. According to him, this meeting cannot take place in the capital of the ” aggressor country»
On 20 April, Zelensky suggested that he meet with Putin “anywhere in the Ukrainian Donbass where there is a war.” In response, Putin said that if the Ukrainian president wants to discuss the problem of Donbass, first he needs to meet with the heads of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) and only then with the Russian leadership as a third party. Putin added that the Russian side is ready to talk with Ukraine about relations between the two countries, and suggested that Zelensky come to Moscow for this “at any time convenient for him”.
On 22 April, the heads of the DPR and LPR Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik announced their readiness to meet with Zelensky at any point on the contact line in the Donbass “for an honest and open conversation.” Adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovich, however, said that “there will be no negotiations with the so-called LPR, DPR, and there cannot be.” According to another adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, Mikhail Podolyak, the participation of representatives of the self-proclaimed republics in the discussion of the situation in the Donbass will make the negotiations unconstructive.
The exchange of views on a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky continues. This was stated on May 23 by the press secretary of the Head of Russia Dmitry Peskov.
The Kremlin spokesman said that Russia is ready to discuss the issue of Crimea only in the context of cross-border co-operation between the two countries. “They say: we will discuss Crimea. But if we discuss Crimea in terms of the development of cross-border co-operation… You know, Russia has cross-border cooperation in the regions with foreign countries. If in this regard, I am sure that Putin will be ready. But if we discuss something other than the fact that Crimea is a region of the Russian Federation.”
Peskov noted that the Russian Constitution states that it is a criminal offense to talk about the alienation of the territories of the Russian Federation.”Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done, we will continue to exchange views, and we will see what happens. But such an exchange of views does take place,” he concluded.
The main condition for the meeting of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky with Russian President Vladimir Putin is to discuss issues of interest to official Kiev, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on 20 May. According to him, the date of such an event is not discussed, but Kiev will insist on this content of the meeting.
Co-ordination of a possible meeting of the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia, Vladimir Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, is very difficult, it must necessarily discuss the issues of Donbass and Crimea, said the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba.
Earlier, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said that contacts on a hypothetical meeting of Putin Zelensky are underway, there are sketches of possible topics, but the process is not easy.
“In principle, this meeting is born very hard. At the same time, we confirm that we are ready to talk. The main topic, of course, is the end of the war and peace in Ukraine. We will not meet with Putin in order not to talk about the Donbass and Crimea, ” Kuleba told local media.
“We need to talk to Putin, because we understand that decisions in Russia are made by Vladimir Putin – and no one else. But I am sure that if this meeting takes place, the president will firmly defend Ukrainian interests. The meeting will take place when we, Kiev, make sure that at this meeting we will be able to discuss in detail the issues that are key for us,” he added.
Relations between Moscow and Kiev have deteriorated in 2014 after the coup d’etas in Kiev which sparked the conflict in Donbass and led to the annexation of Crimea. The Ukrainian authorities and Western countries have repeatedly accused Russia of interfering in the internal affairs of Ukraine. In January 2015, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a statement calling Russia an “aggressor country”.
Russia denies the accusations of Kiev and the West and calls them unacceptable. Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict and is interested in Kiev overcoming the political and economic crisis. Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum held there in March 2014, in which 96.77% of the voters of the Republic of Crimea and 95.6% of the residents of Sevastopol voted for joining Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea its own, but temporarily occupied territory.
The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea democratically, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter, voted for reunification with Russia. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the issue of Crimea is finally closed.
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