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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he sees no point in meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at present, arguing that earlier negotiations with Western-backed mediators produced little more than empty promises and allowed Ukraine time to strengthen its military.
Responding to a question from India Today's Geeta Mohan at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum (SPIEF), Putin said he was not opposed to meeting Zelenskyy in principle but insisted that any summit must produce meaningful results rather than serve as a symbolic diplomatic exercise.
"Zelenskyy asked for a meeting. I never refuse to meet," Putin said. "But meeting, you know, just for the sake of meeting, well, I've seen that," he added.
The Russian leader suggested that past experiences had made Moscow wary of leader-level talks that are not backed by concrete agreements.
Putin pointed to the now-defunct Minsk peace accords as an example of why Russia remains cautious about high-profile diplomatic engagements.
"We had been forging, hammering out those Minsk agreements throughout the night," he said.
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Published By:
Aprameya Rao
Published On:
Jun 5, 2026 21:06 IST
