BEIJING, August 25. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky must first strive to reach a consensus on the key aspects of the Ukrainian conflict before he can hold a productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the China Daily newspaper said.
"He [Zelensky] should be reminded that before Moscow and Kiev can reach any agreement on the core issues, no meeting between him and Putin is likely to produce any desirable result," the newspaper noted, speaking about the prospects for peaceful dialogue on Ukraine.
The authors of the article pointed out that Zelensky, "who dares not criticize either the US or European countries," is trying to accuse Moscow of "doing everything" to prevent his meeting with Putin. The article emphasized Kiev's contradictory actions, noting that instead of making efforts to restore peace, Kiev is complicating the situation by striking energy facilities, particularly those supplying oil to Hungary and Slovakia.
"Despite the desire for peace shared by all parties, the US-led peace process, which once looked workable after the multilateral meetings at the White House, has come to a halt again," the newspaper stated.
According to the article, the only party that has benefited from the attempts to restore peace so far is the United States, which has concluded an agreement with Ukraine on mineral resources and obtained the consent of most NATO members to increase defense spending to 5% of their GDP. Most of these funds will be used to purchase American weapons. "The US administration has not managed to prompt any major substantial breakthrough on the core issues concerning a negotiated end to the Ukraine crisis," the authors said.
Last Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that no meeting between the Russian president and Vladimir Zelensky was planned. According to the Russian diplomat, Vladimir Putin will be ready when an agenda appears.