KIEV, October 24. /TASS/. Ukraine’s key task is to restore trade and economic relation with Russia and the CIS countries, Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the Opposition Platform For Life party, said in an interview posted on the party’s website on Sunday.
"Restoring trade and economic relations with Russia and the CIS is a top priority task for the country’s economy. The implementation of this top priority task means economic growth and, hence, the improvement of living standards in Ukraine," he said.
According to Medvedchuk, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, at personal meetings with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, should address problems in the economy and raise the issues of peace in Donbass, as "it cannot be done without Russia."
"It is necessary to sit down at the negotiating table, it is necessary to speak to each other and try to reach accord. This is the only option. And I think it has no alternatives. We have no other sources to ensure normal life of the country and its people, bearing in mind that we can achieve it, including energy supplies from alternative sources," he stressed.
He noted that relations between Ukraine and Russia are at a dead end, with numerous adverse consequences, first of all, for Ukraine and Ukrainians.
Zelensky said in an interview with Ukraine’s ICTV on October 18 that he was ready for a meeting with the Russian president in any format. Meanwhile, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on October 18 that no prospects for top-level contacts between Moscow and Kiev were seen, since there were no changes in the modality and status of the previous agreements. Moreover, in his words, Kiev has embarked on a course toward withdrawing from the Minsk agreements.