A face-to-face meeting after four years of war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is ready to meet Vladimir Putin at the next G20, scheduled for December in Miami, United States. “We have to be there – underlined Zelensky in an interview with Deutsche Welle -. We have to meet, talk and make a decision. It doesn’t matter what exactly I will say to Putin or what he will say, only the result counts. That’s all.”
The invitation to Moscow
The Kremlin’s response was not long in coming: “If he really wants to meet him, Putin had already said previously that he can come to Moscow, the invitation is always valid – declared Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov -. American efforts for peace in Ukraine have intensified and Russia hopes that they will bear fruit”. “The Americans continue their efforts for peace – added Peskov -, for which we are very grateful. We sincerely hope that these efforts will bear fruit. great interest on the part of the business world in resuming cooperation between Russia and the United States”.
“There is no scenario where everyone wins”
Zelensky had also reiterated the need to find a solution in an interview with the Canadian broadcaster CBC: “There is no scenario in which everyone wins in this war. It cannot be like this, because there have been so many human losses. It has stopped being a situation in which everyone wins since the first day of the war.” The Ukrainian president expressed skepticism about the position of Donald Trump’s envoy, Jared Kushner, who after the mission to Moscow and Kiev with Steve Witkoff had hoped for a solution in which ‘everyone wins’: “Peace is a victory compared to war, but we already had peace before this war and for this reason I am not sure that we can talk about a situation in which everyone wins”.
Zelensky also reiterated the need for solid security guarantees from the United States and other allies, also in view of any new negotiations and a possible meeting with Vladimir Putin, so as “not to have to live with the fear that tomorrow he may occupy us”. “He will not change his goal – warned Zelensky -. Never. I know his goal and I know that this person wants to occupy us completely. And he will do it if we are not strong enough and if the world does not remain united”.
New Russian raids
Meanwhile, at least three people died and around twenty were injured in Russian attacks carried out during the night against various regions of Ukraine. In Zaporizhzhia a drone hit a residential area, killing a man and a woman and injuring at least one other person. In Odessa, at least 17 people were injured, including a five-month-old baby, while local authorities released images of a heavily damaged multi-storey residential building.
Another person was killed and two injured in an attack on a factory in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the attacks, claiming they targeted metallurgical companies in Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih that produce material intended for military purposes. In the Odessa region, according to Moscow, port infrastructure and an important transport hub used to unload and store military material were hit.