Ukraine is preparing for fresh peace talks with Russia in October, despite Moscow ruling out a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky at the G20 summit later this year.
Kyrylo Budanov, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff, said Ukraine was “getting ready” for negotiations involving Russia and the United States, which he suggested could take place in October.
His comments came after Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, rejected the possibility of a Putin-Zelensky meeting at the G20 gathering in Miami, Florida, from December 14 to 15.
Speaking in New Delhi, Mr Peskov said a meeting could take place only in Moscow. “There is a readiness to meet him [Zelensky] in Moscow,” he told AFP.
Asked about the G20 summit, he said: “It is impossible,” ruling out the event or any alternative location for talks between the two leaders. Mr Peskov did not confirm whether Mr Putin had been invited.
Mr Zelensky said earlier this week that he would be willing to meet the Russian president at the summit if both were invited. “We have to come. We have to meet, to speak, and make decisions,” he told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
He added: “It’s not about words. What I will tell him or what he wants to tell me, it doesn’t matter.”
US efforts to revive Russia-Ukraine talks
Washington has been seeking to restart negotiations, with US officials travelling to Kyiv and Moscow and Donald Trump speaking to Mr Putin by telephone earlier this week.
Jared Kushner, the US president’s special envoy and son-in-law, said on Friday that he hoped to announce the “next steps” towards ending the war within “a couple of weeks”. Mr Kushner and US negotiator Steve Witkoff visited both capitals last weekend.
Mr Zelensky has previously said he proposed meeting Mr Putin in the United States during a call with Mr Trump and was awaiting the outcome. He also said the Russian leader had ignored an invitation to meet at a G7 summit in France.
The Ukrainian president said he believed Kyiv was in a stronger position for negotiations than it had been last year. He also confirmed plans to meet Mr Trump in late September.
The diplomatic efforts come as fighting continues. Russian strikes across Ukraine killed at least seven people and wounded almost 60 over the weekend, according to Ukrainian officials.
Mr Zelensky said a Russian strike on an apartment building in Odesa wounded 37 people, while another 11 were injured in Chornomorsk. Two people were also reported killed in each of the Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr regions.
ArcelorMittal said two people were killed when a missile struck its plant in Kryvyi Rih, damaging production facilities. The company described the site as a civilian steelmaking facility.
Kyiv has called on its allies to respond more forcefully to what it describes as an intensifying Russian campaign, amid concern over the prospect of another winter of war.
