ZUMAPRESS.com The talks would have to be “honest,” Lavrov said, adding that a one-on-one showdown between Putin and Zelensky would have to be a “period” at the end of talks, and not “make negotiations worse.” The demands blunt the impact of two ...

The Kremlin hasn't ruled out summits but has said they could only meet in the very final stages of clinching a peace agreement.

A summit in Paris six years ago was the first and only time the two presidents ever met, flanked by French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s then-chancellor Angela Merkel. At the time, Putin and Zelensky were looking to hash out a ceasefire deal for war in Donbas in Ukraine’s east, where Russia-backed forces were fighting Ukrainian troops.

Zelensky talks puts Kremlin in a bind: accept and legitimise Kyiv’s leader or refuse and face fresh US sanctions. Read here

The Kremlin is keeping its options open, but analysts said the Russian leader would probably only meet with his Ukrainian counterpart to accept a capitulation.

European leaders are to join the Ukrainian president during a visit that seeks a path to ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.