Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Vladimir Putin, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky can come to Moscow if he is ready to meet the Russian leader. He added that Russia would guarantee the Ukrainian leader’s security.
Ushakov’s remarks about potential peace talks were published on January 28 by Russian state TV journalist Pavel Zarubin. Responding to comments by Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha about Zelensky’s readiness to meet Vladimir Putin, Ushakov said the issue is “not new” for the Kremlin.
According to Putin’s aide, a meeting with Zelensky was discussed several times during phone contacts with U.S. President Donald Trump. Ushakov said Russia has “never refused and is not refusing” such a format for peace talks.
“The main thing is that these contacts be well prepared and aimed at achieving concrete, positive results. And our president has said several times in conversations with journalists that if Zelensky is truly ready to meet, we invite him to Moscow and will guarantee his security and the necessary conditions for work,” Ushakov said.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Zelensky is ready to meet with Putin, in an interview with European Pravda published on January 27. According to Sybiha, the Ukrainian president is prepared to discuss the occupied territories and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Zelensky said on January 23 that parameters for ending the war and the logic of the negotiation process were discussed during trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, noting that ending hostilities requires Russia’s willingness.
U.S. President Donald Trump praised the Russia-Ukraine talks and told reporters that “very good things are happening” in relations between Kyiv and Moscow.
