‘Let Him Come’: Russia's Foreign Minister Calls Zelenskyy’s Moscow Invitation A ‘Gesture Of Goodwill’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has described Moscow’s invitation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit Russia as a “gesture of goodwill”, according to a comment he made to Russia’s Vesti news agency, APA reports.

Lavrov was asked about Zelenskyy’s proposal to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the United States.

“Dmitry Peskov has already spoken about this, I believe. An invitation has been sent to this person. If he wants to meet, let him come,” Lavrov said.

He further defended the invitation, saying, “And this is a huge gesture of goodwill on our part, because he still hasn’t cancelled his decree banning contact with Putin and his team. So we’re not short of goodwill, but he, as I understand it, is short of good character.”

Lavrov also said Russia remains willing to hold talks with Ukraine. However, he maintained that Moscow would not agree to stop the fighting for the duration of such negotiations.

‘Zelensky Ready To Meet Putin, But…’

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said he would be willing to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Miami for talks on ending the war, in a media interview released Saturday, but the Kremlin immediately ruled it out.

“It is impossible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP in New Delhi on Saturday, repeating Moscow’s demand that a meeting can only take place in the Russian capital.

The gathering of world leaders is scheduled for December 14-15, but there has been no confirmation yet on whether Putin will attend.

Putin has repeatedly turned down proposals for a face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy to negotiate an end to the more than four-year-long war, which has claimed thousands of lives and severely damaged the economies of both countries.