The first president of Ukraine, head of the Kiev delegation to the contact group on Donbass, Leonid Kravchuk, announced his readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a settlement in the region. The politician announced this on April 21 on the air of the Ukraine 24 TV channel.
Answering a journalist’s question whether he is ready for a meeting with the Russian leader, Kravchuk replied: “Of course, even today.”
“I have something to say to Putin and I have something to turn to Kremlin politicians,” he added.
On the eve of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited Putin to meet “anywhere” in Donbass. He also noted that the different views of the two countries on the past and on the future can be viewed not as a problem, but as an opportunity.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that there were no requests for a meeting with the Russian leader from the Ukrainian side. According to him, there must be prerequisites for the leaders’ meeting.
Political analyst Dmitry Solonikov expressed the opinion that Zelensky invited the Russian leader to meet in Donbass to show the Western partners Ukraine’s attempts to resolve the situation in the region.
Since 2014, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities blame Russia for the current situation. Moscow has repeatedly noted that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict. The issues of its settlement are being discussed in the Minsk and Normandy formats – with the participation of Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany.