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VLADIMIR Putin is ready to meet Ukraine’s President Zelensky, according a top Kremlin minister – but only after working through a list of vague “issues”.
Pressure has been mounting on Vlad to sit down with Zelensky since the White House summit – but the latest update looks suspiciously like well-worn stalling tactics.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: “Our president has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Mr Zelensky.”
But he insisted the meeting would only happen “with the understanding that all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well worked out, and experts and ministers will prepare appropriate recommendations.
“And, of course, with the understanding that when and if – hopefully, when – it comes to signing future agreements, the issue of the legitimacy of the person who signs these agreements from the Ukrainian side will be resolved.”
Following the Alaska summit, Trump said he had begun arranging a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Momentum seemed to build after Zelensky and EU leaders met the President in Washington – during which Trump took a 40-minute call with Putin.
The blueprint is for a head-to-head between Zelensky and Putin, followed by a trilateral meeting with Trump.
The leaders have appeared on the brink of meeting in person for months, with the stage all set back in Turkey in May – only for Putin to pull out last minute.