Putin says he is ready to meet with the President of Ukraine in Moscow ‘any time’

‘If we are talking about bilateral relations, by all means, we are ready to welcome the President of Ukraine at any time convenient for him,’ the Russian leader said.

Mr. Zelensky (left) and Mr. Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was welcome in Moscow “at any time” but stressed that he should discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine directly with the separatists. “If we are talking about bilateral relations, by all means, we are ready to welcome the President of Ukraine at any time convenient for him,” the Russian leader said during a meeting with the Belarusian leader. Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, according to Tass . Putin’s invitation to Zelensky came in response to this week’s request by the President of Ukraine to meet the two leaders in eastern Ukraine, where the fighting intensified between the Kyiv army and the faction. Pro-Moscow separatism has raised concerns about an all-out war. Ukraine, the European Union and the US have recently set off alarm bells about Russian troops gathering troops on the borders of the former Soviet Union country. Moscow said the military was conducting drills in response to NATO exercises and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Thursday ordered the army to return to its permanent base by May 1. “If President Zelensky wants to begin to heal relations, we certainly welcome,” Putin told reporters as he began talks with President Lukashenko. But the Russian leader said that if Mr. Zelensky hoped to solve the problems stemming from the fighting in eastern Ukraine, he should first meet with the leaders of the separatist zones in Donetsk and Lugansk. “And it was only then that these matters were discussed with representatives of third countries, in this case Russia,” Putin said. Kiev has been fighting the separatists in areas east of Donetsk and Lugansk since 2014. The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people, and has seen about 30 Ukrainian soldiers perished since the beginning of 2021, compared with the number 50 of the whole 2020. Sponsorship news