Putin Refused Negotiating with Zelensky – Office of the President

The Russian president does not want participating in the Normandy Four Summit, since Merkel and Macron support Zelensky, they say in the OP. After the beginning of the situation in Donbass aggravation, Ukraine requested negotiations between President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but was refused. Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the President's Office spoke about this in an interview with LB.ua, published on Friday, April 9. He confirmed that Kiev is now planning a trilateral conversation with Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “As soon as there was an aggravation at the front, we immediately asked for talks with all three representatives of the Normandy Four. The Kremlin refused. Now, I repeat, it is planned to talk with the leaders of Germany and France,” Zhovkva said. The diplomat notes that at the present time Russia does not want to hold the Normandy Four Summit because it does not like the fact that the leaders of Germany and France openly support Ukraine. "The question is not about dates. It is one country that does not want this summit. This is Russia. Because when the four leaders sit, everyone hears each other's position. At such summits we are openly supported by the leaders of Germany and France. It is not very pleasant for the President of the Russian Federation. Besides, Russia has nothing to say. Russia has not fulfilled any of the agreements of the Paris summit, except for the organization of the ceasefire. But here, too, we see that it is constantly violated, "Zhovkva said. However, according to him, now it is impossible to say that the Minsk and Normandy formats are blocked: meetings are being held at the level of the TCG, advisers to the leaders of the Four. But, as Zhovkva notes, "it seems that the Russian Federation is deliberately turning these negotiations into an unconstructive channel. Probably, it does not need them." It should be noted that Dmitry Kozak, the deputy head of the presidential administration of the Russian Federation, made a number of harsh statements criticizing both Kiev and others involved in the Normandy format. In particular, he accuses Ukraine of not fulfilling the agreements, and Paris and London of playing up to Kiev. Let's note, according to Kozak. On April 19, a conversation between the advisers of the Normandy Quartet is to take place.