MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. A summit meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky is unlikely in the near future, because the two sides propose very different agendas, the deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, Vladimir Zharikhin, told TASS on Wednesday.

"The chances such a meeting may take place are very slim, because in the final count it is the meeting’s content, and not the very instance of such an event, that is really important. For the time being the presidents propose conflicting agendas. Zelensky said he wished to discuss an agreement on peace in Donbass, but Putin replied quite reasonably that negotiations with the Donetsk and Lugansk leaders must be conducted first. Russia in this case is a third party, and not a participant."

Zharikhin stressed that Putin emphasized the need for discussing with Ukraine bilateral relations in the first place, but Zelensky, the expert believes, will disagree to focus on the bilateral agenda alone. This is against his policy. The Ukrainian leader needs such a meeting as a means to assert his continued claims that Russia is a party to the Donbass conflict. And against a backdrop of repeated claims that Russia is an "aggressor" it will be "extremely hard" to conduct a constructive dialogue.

Zharikhin speculated that Zelensky might give preliminary consent to Moscow’s agenda only to bring up Donbass settlement issues when the negotiations get underway. Zharikhin recalled that on the eve of the Normandy Quartet’s Paris summit the Ukrainian leader said Kiev was ready to implement the Steinmeier formula, which was one of the main pre-requisites for holding the summit meeting. But at the negotiations proper the Ukrainian president said something very different - Ukraine disagrees with this plan for a settlement of the conflict in the southeast of the country.

"Hypothetically the meeting might take place at any venue. Neutral sites are many, Vienna being one of the likely ones. But something more than that is needed. Two more components are still missing - an agreed agenda to be acted on and at least a minim degree of trust between the partners. For the time being Zelensky’s steps raise big doubts he is a trustworthy politician who keeps his word," the analyst said.

Background

On April 20, Zelensky invited Putin to hold a meeting at any location in conflict-stricken Donbass. On April 22, the Russian leader said about the Ukrainian president’s proposal that "if the issue on the agenda is a discussion of Donbass problems, then the authorities in Kiev should meet with the leaders of the Lugansk and Donetsk republics in the first place." This is precisely the first step, Putin said, that a settlement in Donbass might begin with. Then the issue can be discussed with any third country, including Russia. Putin added that he would be prepared to see Zelensky in Moscow at any convenient moment for a discussion of bilateral relations.

On Monday, the Ukrainian president said in response that he had instructed the chief of his office Andrey Yermak to make arrangements for a meeting with Putin. Zelensky said that the agenda of the meeting was crucial to him, while the venue where it might take place was a detail of secondary importance. Also, Zelensky stated that at a meeting with Putin he would be prepared to discuss the position of Russian speaking citizens and the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. On Tuesday, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a future dialogue between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents might concern bilateral relations, but searching for a settlement of the conflict in Donbass could not be among its tasks.