There is currently no agenda for a summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and no meeting is planned. Putin is willing to meet if a proper agenda is prepared. Both Russia and Ukraine are signaling readiness to US President Donald Trump to pursue a peace deal while accusing each other of insincerity. Russia says it showed flexibility on issues raised at a US–Russia summit, while Ukraine rejected proposed principles that include no NATO membership and territorial discussions. Ukraine also refused to cancel legislation banning the Russian language. Recent US pressure included an August 8 deadline and threatened sanctions.
Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all, Lavrov told NBC, saying no meeting was therefore planned for now. Lavrov said Russia had agreed to show flexibility on a number of issues raised by Trump at a US-Russia summit last week, but accused Ukraine of not showing the same flexibility in talks with Trump and European allies that followed in Washington.
He [Trump] clearly indicated it was very clear to everybody that there are several principles which Washington believes must be accepted, including no NATO membership [for Ukraine], including the discussion of territorial issues, and Zelenskyy said no to everything, said Lavrov. He even said no to, as I said, to cancelling legislation banning the Russian language. How can we meet with a person who is pretending to be a leader?
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