‘What’s there to talk about?’: Putin on Zelensky’s call for direct meeting

As tensions between Russia and Ukraine Russian soar, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declined to meet and hold discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart Zelensky, reported Bloomberg.

Pointing to Russia’s demands during peace negotiations in Istanbul, Zelensky said that there is no point in continuing low-level peace talks.(File/AFP)

Putin’s comments come after Ukraine launched a big-scale drone strike on Russia over the weekend on June 1, a day ahead of when both the parties were scheduled to hold peace negotiations in Istanbul. During the attack, codenamed ‘Spider’s Web’, Ukraine reportedly destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep inside their territory.

Also read: Trump says Putin plans to retaliate after Ukraine drone strikes

“How can such meetings be held under these conditions? What is there to talk about?” said Putin during a televised meeting with government officials, reported Bloomberg. Putin also discussed several bridge collapses in Russia which it has blamed on Ukraine. Kyiv, however, has denied any involvement in the collapses.

What Zelensky had said

Hours before Putin’s meeting with his officials, Zelensky reiterated his willingness to meet Putin to hold peace negotiations, reported Bloomberg. His remarks also came after the Istanbul peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Pointing to Russia’s demands during peace negotiations, Zelensky said that there is no point in continuing low-level peace talks in Istanbul to put an end to war. “To continue diplomatic meetings in Istanbul at a level that does not resolve anything further is, in my opinion, meaningless,” Bloomberg quoted Zelensky as saying. He also called Russia’s conditions for peace an “ultimatum.”

Zelensky described the June 2 negotiations with Russia in Istanbul as a “political performance” and “artificial diplomacy”, reported AP.

During the talks held on June 2, which lasted for over an hour, both the countries failed to come even an inch closer to put an end to the over three-year-old war. However, they did agree on exchanging dead and seriously injured troops.

Both Russia and Ukraine agreed to swap 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed in action.