”We need to end this war, which will probably start with a meeting between leaders”, says Zelenskyj in a written comment on Friday and calls it a ”progress”.
The discussions are said to have taken place at the countries' peace talks on Wednesday in Istanbul in Turkey. Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov then suggested that the meeting should take place before the end of August.
The timing would roughly coincide with US President Donald Trump's earlier threat to Moscow of further sanctions if they do not approve an agreement on a ceasefire within 50 days.
Ukraine has previously pushed for a conversation between the presidents and expressed hopes that Trump will also participate.
Russia's negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, however, downplays the likelihood of a meeting in the near future.
”The meeting must be prepared properly. Only then will it be meaningful”, he says according to the Russian state news agency Tass.
