April 22 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin can only meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to finalize a deal on the conflict, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Wednesday.
Peskov’s remarks on state television came after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andry Sibiha said Ukraine asked Turkey to host a meeting between the two leaders to revive stalled peace talks, Russian news agencies reported.
“The most important thing is the goal of this meeting. Why are they meeting? Putin has said he is ready to hold a meeting in Moscow at any time,” the news agency quoted Peskov as saying.
“Above all, there should be a reason for the meeting and above all it should be productive. And only to finalize an agreement.”
Peskov said any such meeting would require careful preparation and “the political will of the Kiev regime, but at the moment we don’t see such political will.”
He said the main purpose of Russia’s military operation, known as a “special military operation”, was to secure its vital interests and guard against Ukrainian attacks on energy and other targets, which he described as “terrorist dangers emanating from the Kiev region.”
He said Russia was ready “even tomorrow” for any new talks with U.S. negotiators on resolving the war.
Sibiha said in previous comments that Kiev had asked Turkey to host a meeting between the two leaders, but did not disclose how Anka responded to the request.
Turkey’s president said President Tayyip Erdogan told Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte at a meeting that Ankara was working to resume talks between Russia and Ukraine and bring the leaders of the warring sides together.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)
