The Office of the President of Ukraine believes that Russia is trying to avoid trilateral negotiations at the level of the leaders of Ukraine, the USA and the Russian Federation. This is how Kyiv explains the Kremlin's repeated statements about possible telephone contacts with Volodymyr Zelensky and the invitation of the Ukrainian president to Moscow.
This was stated on October 30 by the adviser to the President of Ukraine Dmytro Lytvyn in a comment to "Ukrainska Pravda".
Journalists asked whether Zelensky is considering the possibility of a direct phone call with Vladimir Putin. The immediate reason was the recent talks of the Russian president with the leaders of Finland and Norway, which took place on October 27.
Lytvyn stated that the Kremlin's talk about a phone call or a meeting of Zelensky in Moscow is an attempt to avoid the need to hold a trilateral summit.
According to the presidential adviser, the key issues of ending the war should be resolved directly at the level of heads of state. At the same time, it is important not only the contact itself, but also the possibility of reaching concrete agreements and ensuring their implementation.
Lytvyn emphasized that the negotiation process should include a personal meeting of the leaders, a substantive discussion of disputed issues, the coordination of decisions and appropriate guarantees. In his opinion, implementing all this during an ordinary phone conversation is significantly more difficult.
The statement of the President's Office was a reaction to the new words of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Earlier on October 30, he reported that Putin is ready for telephone negotiations with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
In a comment to a journalist of the Kremlin pool Alexander Yunashev, Peskov assured that the Russian president is open to communication with foreign leaders.
However, when asked whether such readiness extends to a possible call from Zelensky, the Kremlin representative only replied that nobody has called yet.
Thus, Peskov did not give a direct answer regarding Putin's readiness for telephone negotiations with the Ukrainian president.
Previously, the Russian side has also repeatedly proposed that Zelensky come to Moscow for personal negotiations. In particular, on October 27 "Kurs Ukrainy" reported about another such invitation, voiced by Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov.
Meanwhile, Ukraine, the US and Russia are preparing for the resumption of trilateral consultations in Abu Dhabi. The meeting of negotiation delegations is preliminarily set for November 6-10, but the final date has not yet been agreed.
According to Zelensky, among the main issues of the upcoming consultations are stopping Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, de-escalation in the Black Sea, prisoners of war exchanges and the return of detained citizens.
A separate task of the negotiation groups should be the preparation of a possible trilateral meeting directly between the presidents of Ukraine, the United States and Russia.
However, there is currently no agreement on holding such a summit. The meeting of delegations in Abu Dhabi and negotiations at the presidential level remain different stages of the diplomatic process.
