Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and his press secretary Dmitry Peskov (left), Photo: “Kommersant
The Kremlin has ruled out the possibility of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump during the US president’s planned visit to Saudi Arabia in May. This was stated by the Russian leader’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who stressed that Putin “has no such plans,” AFP reports.
Earlier, Trump hinted at a possible meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia, but the Kremlin denied these statements. Peskov noted that contacts between Moscow and Washington continue at various levels, but there are no specific agreements on a personal meeting between the presidents.
Meanwhile, Russia has rejected a plan proposed by the United States to end the war in Ukraine. According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Washington’s proposals do not take into account the so-called “root causes” of the conflict, among which Moscow calls the recognition of the occupied territories as Russian and guarantees of NATO’s non-expansion.
The United States and Russia have been holding talks in Saudi Arabia on de-escalation, but so far they have not yielded results. As part of these contacts, Washington was able to reach preliminary agreements on a partial truce, including guarantees of safety of navigation in the Black Sea and an end to attacks on energy infrastructure. However, the agreement has not yet been put on paper, and Moscow and Kyiv are already accusing each other of violating it.
Donald Trump expressed his irritation after Putin proposed replacing the Ukrainian government with a temporary administration under the auspices of the United Nations. The US President said he was outraged by Zelenskyy’s criticism and was ready to take additional measures, including secondary sanctions against Russian oil buyers, which could reach 50%.
