Ukraine Pres Zelensky ready to have 'face-to-face conversation' with Russia's Putin

On October 3, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he was willing to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin face to face.

"We're prepared for such a meeting, and I believe that meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is the proper thing to do. We might have a very in-depth face-to-face conversation," he said at a press conference, Sputnik reported.

President Zelensky claimed that Putin's team did not want them to meet one-on-one for fear of an 'unexpected result' from the meeting. However, he expected it to be successful.

According to Sputnik, in response to the possibility of a four-way conference between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France, Zelensky stated that he was, in principle, open to the idea.

Any conference at this level, according to the president, would aid Ukraine in dealing with the Donbass tragedy and the Crimea issue. He further stated that he is convinced that this conference could be accelerated if Ukraine decided not to raise certain problems. However, he also conceded that the country cannot afford to do so at this time.

Russia-Ukraine conflict

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has previously been referred to as "undeclared war," has spanned over seven years and claimed the lives of thousands of people. It began when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a move that numerous Western governments have refused to acknowledge.

Later, the battle extended to Ukraine's east, where Moscow backs pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region, with more troops (an estimated 10,000) massing near the border. The violence in eastern Ukraine has claimed the lives of 14,000 people since 2014.

(With inputs from Sputnik)

Image: AP