Putin wants Zelensky to hold direct talks with representatives of occupied Donbas

He stated this in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

"It [a constructive dialogue with Kyiv] is possible if Mr Zelensky starts carrying out his election promises, including if he engages in direct contact with his compatriots in Donbas and stops labeling them separatists," Putin said.

He also said what other steps he would demand from the new authorities in Ukraine.

"Forced Ukrainization, bans on using the Russian language, which is native for millions of Ukrainian citizens, including teaching in Russian in universities and schools, frenzy of neo-Nazism, civil conflict in the south-east of the country, attempts of the previous government to break the fragile inter-faith peace – it is only a small part of the ugly 'baggage' the new President will have to deal with," Putin said in the interview.

"And, certainly, the Kyiv authorities should finally understand that confrontation between Russia and Ukraine is not in the common interests unlike the development of pragmatic cooperation based on trust and mutual understanding. And we are ready for that," he added.

Zelensky said on April 7 that he was ready for talks with Putin on war and peace in Donbas. At the same time, he stressed that he did not intend to sacrifice territories and people and that the integrity of Ukraine should be constant. Zelensky also said that the process of peaceful settlement in Donbas could not last long.

Zelensky said on June 3 after Leonid Kuchma's appointment as Ukraine's new representative in the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk that there were concrete proposals and new solutions for the negotiation process on Donbas and once again emphasized that nobody would trade in the territory and sovereignty of Ukraine.

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