| UN Chief to meet Russian President in Moscow
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Kyiv of being “inconsistent” in talks with Moscow over ending the war in Ukraine and played down the prospect of any immediate meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Putin told European Council President Charles Michel on Friday that Ukraine’s government was showing it was not ready to seek mutually acceptable solutions, the Kremlin said.
He added any direct meeting with Zelenskyy depended on progress in continuing discussions between officials from the two sides, which last took place in person in Turkey on March 29, before Moscow launched a new offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Earlier this week, the Kremlin said Russia had submitted a new written proposal to Kyiv. Zelenskyy later denied any knowledge of the alleged correspondence.
Meanwhile, UN Associate Spokesperson Eri Kaneko said Friday that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Moscow next week to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “The Secretary-General will visit Moscow, Russian Federation, where, on 26 April, he will have a working meeting and lunch with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and will be received by President Vladimir Putin,” she said in a brief announcement at the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.
The UN chief on Wednesday separately asked Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to receive him to discuss steps to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. –Agencies
