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Chance of Putin-Zelensky’s meeting depends on settlement deal — Kremlin

The Russian delegation is willing to work faster during the talks with the Ukrainian delegation if compared to the current pace of the negotiations, Dmitry Peskov also noted

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. A possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky in order to sign an agreement on the current situation’s settlement will depend on the modality of the document, which is yet to be agreed upon, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Ukrainian Presidential Office Adviser Mikhail Podolyak stated earlier that a meeting between Putin and Zelensky might be organized after the work on the settlement document was completed. According to him, such meeting was possible in the next couple of weeks.

"It will all depend on the modality of the document, which we still have to agree upon," Peskov told a news briefing.

He also said that the Russian delegation was willing to work faster during the talks with the Ukrainian delegation if compared to the current pace of the negotiations.

"Unfortunately, the Ukrainian delegation is unwilling to step up the pace of talks," Peskov added.

Military operation in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years."

The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories and the operation was aimed at demilitarizing and denazifying Ukraine.

When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.

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Ukraine crisis Foreign policy Ukraine Vladimir Putin Vladimir Zelensky

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