"Almost two months on, there is still no response," Sergey Shoigu said. According to him, discussing the Geneva conference on Ukraine, the so-called Zelensky formula or other formats therefore makes no sense.
"For holding negotiations without a key negotiator looks a bit weird," the senior Russian security official added, TASS reported.
In June, Putin proposed new terms for resolving the Ukraine conflict. These included recognizing Crimea and the four new Russian regions as Russian lands, enshrining Ukraine’s non-aligned and non-nuclear status, its demilitarization and denazification as well as lifting all sanctions on Russia. Ukraine has turned down the initiative. The Russian leader also noted that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s legitimacy cannot be reinstated now that his powers have expired. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has explained that Putin has not rejected potential talks with Ukraine as there are other legitimate executive bodies in the country.
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