Russian FM responds to Zelenskyy’s Putin Meeting offer at G20: ‘Huge gesture of goodwill’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has responded to Ukrainian president Volodymyr’s offer to meet Putin at the G20 summit in Miami.

When asked by the reports to comment on Zelenskyy’s proposal regarding the meeting, Lavrov said, “An invitation was sent to that character. If he wants to meet, let him come [to Moscow]. And that in itself is already a huge gesture of goodwill on our part, because he still has not revoked his decree banning contacts with Putin and his team.”

“So we're not short of goodwill, while he, as I understand it, is short of good character."

According to Lavrov, Russia remains ready for negotiations. “But the 'special military operation' will not be halted during the talks,” he added.

Earlier on September 12, Dmitriy Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said that if Zelenskyy genuinely wants to meet with Putin, he can come to Moscow.

The response comes as Zelenskyy signalled the willingness to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin if the latter attended the Group of 20 leaders’ summit scheduled for December.

Speaking to the DW, he highlighted that he would travel to Miami if his Russian counterpart attended the summit.

"Yes, of course. We have to come. We have to meet, to speak and make decisions," he said.

Speaking about the nature of talks that would likely take place, Zelenskyy explained, “It's not about words. What I will tell him or what he wants to tell me, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. [...] Results matter. That's it.”

Putin has not personally attended a G20 summit since 2019. The Kremlin has so far declined to say whether Putin would go to Miami for the meeting.