Russia gives cautious reaction to Zelensky's summit offer

The Kremlin gave a cautious reaction to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s apparent invitation to a future peace summit, saying that Russia first needs to understand what Kyiv means before attending talks.

The Kremlin on July 16 gave a cautious reaction to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s apparent invitation to a future peace summit, saying that Russia first needs to understand what Kyiv means before attending talks.

Mr. Zelensky said on July 15 that Russia "should" be represented at a second summit on the Ukraine conflict, a change of tone from last month when Kyiv excluded Moscow from a high-level peace conference in Switzerland.

"The first peace summit was not a peace summit at all. So perhaps it is necessary to first understand what he means," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Zvezda television channel, responding to Mr. Zelensky's comments.

Leaders and top officials from more than 90 countries gathered at the Swiss mountainside resort of Burgenstock in June for the first summit, which Russia derided as a waste of time.

Both Russia and Ukraine are worlds apart on the terms of a possible peace settlement to end the more than two year conflict.

Moscow insists it must keep all the territory it now occupies — some 20% of the country — while Kyiv demands all Russian soldiers retreat from Ukraine's internationally recognised borders, including the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Washington said on July 15 that it backed Ukraine's decision to invite Russia to a second summit, but expressed doubt about whether Moscow was ready for talks.