Zelenskyy: Putin’s entourage does not want our face-to-face meeting

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that his face-to-face meeting with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin could be effective.

"As for a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation. I reiterate that we are ready for this meeting. I think this is the right step. I would like to meet with the President of the Russian Federation. It is clear to me that a face-to-face meeting could be quite substantive. It is clear to me that the Russian side, the entourage of the President of Russia, does not want him to hold this meeting precisely in the face-to-face format as such a meeting may bring unexpected results," President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Truskavets on October 3, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

At the same time, he stressed that he was ready for a meeting in the Normandy format.

"In principle, I am ready for any meeting because I believe that any meeting at this level will help Ukraine in resolving the tragedy in Donbas and the issue of Crimea," Zelenskyy said.

He expressed confidence that a meeting in the Normandy format would take place.

As reported, on April 20, 2021, Zelenskyy addressed Putin, inviting him to meet "anywhere in Ukrainian Donbas where the war is going on."

In June, Zelenskyy said that the ball – arrangement of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin – was now in Russia's court. "Our administrations discussed the agenda, the date, and the place of a meeting," the President of Ukraine said.

On June 30, commenting on a possible meeting with Zelenskyy, Putin said that the proposal made no sense as all issues on Ukraine were allegedly "resolved in Washington, Berlin, and Paris." Zelenskyy responded that any statements about the so-called "external governance" of Ukraine were just a propaganda mantra for the domestic consumer in Russia.