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Ukraine's New President Calls for Talks Between Kyiv, Moscow

VOA News

   New Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he is ready to meet
   with Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks over the contested
   region of Crimea.

   "Now I want to address the Russian President Vladimir Putin. We need to
   talk? We do. Let's do it," said the new Ukrainian leader on Monday in a
   video address.

   Relations between Ukraine and Russia have been tense following the
   latter's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Moscow's continued support
   for separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, a conflict
   that has left around 13,000 people dead.

   "Let's discuss whom Crimea belongs to and who is not there in the
   Donbas," Zelenskiy said, alluding to Moscow's continued denials of a
   military presence there.

   A cease-fire had previously been signed in 2015, but it has not
   effectively ended the conflict in the region.

   In his address, Zelenskiy called for new talks to include both Russian
   and Ukrainian heads of state, as well as several Western leaders that
   have been sympathetic toward Kyiv.

   "I suggest the following line-up for talks: me, you, U.S. President
   Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor
   Angela Merkel (and) French President Emmanuel Macron," Zelenskiy said.

   Moscow said it was not ready to comment immediately on the feasibility
   of talks.

   "First, there's a need to understand whether such a meeting has any
   prospects," Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov said.

   Previous talks between the two nations have stalled.
   At a summit with EU officials on Monday, Zelenskiy emphasized a
   diplomatic solution.

   "We want to stop this war, and we want to return peace to Ukraine," he
   said. "But this can be done with only one weapon: diplomacy."