Zelenskyy on talks with Putin: If he wants to meet in Kazakhstan, we're ready
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reiterated that he is ready to meet with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin anywhere but Russia. If Europe or Saudi Arabia are not suitable, the meeting could take place in another country, such as Kazakhstan.
Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with Fox News
Quote: "I didn’t invite him to Kyiv. I said, look, if he doesn’t want to meet with me, of course he will invite me to Moscow. It’s just to postpone the meeting. That’s it. This is the same if I invite him to Kyiv."
Details: Zelenskyy emphasised that Putin has plenty of options, as numerous countries have offered to host peace talks.
"He has a choice. Trump’s team, my team, Europeans, including Macron and other leaders, and the Turkish president – all of us, all our teams proposed meeting in Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, in neutral Europe like Austria, Switzerland… And even if you want somewhere else, like Kazakhstan – I mean, we are ready," Zelenskyy added.
For reference: Putin has visited Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, four times since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine (October 2022, November 2023, July 2024 and November 2024).
Background:
- Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called Putin’s proposal to meet Zelenskyy in Moscow "unacceptable".
- Zelenskyy later stated that the invitation had been issued in order to delay the meeting. "Our American partners have informed us that Putin has invited me to Moscow. I believe that if you want to prevent the meeting from taking place, you should invite me to Moscow," the Ukrainian leader said.
- Putin has since made it clear that he does not intend to travel anywhere to hold talks with Zelenskyy, but is open to meeting in Moscow.
- Zelenskyy has confirmed that he is willing to attend a summit or meeting with US President Donald Trump and Putin anywhere except Russia.
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