The key facts

  • Ushakov: Putin will answer Zelensky's call and invites him to Moscow for talks
  • In the Kremlin's view, the first rounds of talks on Ukraine should take place in a Russia–Ukraine–US format
  • The third Russia–Africa summit ended in Moscow on October 29: 48 countries, 22 heads of state

The Kremlin on direct contacts with Kyiv

Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said in an interview with a Vesti program journalist published on Sunday that Vladimir Putin has 'never once refused negotiations' with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and, in his words, will answer his phone call. He also invited Zelensky to come to Moscow: 'He sends signals through various channels. He wants to talk — if he wants to talk that much, let him come,' Anadolu reports.

Negotiation format: first three parties, then Europe

Touching on negotiations to settle the conflict, Ushakov proposed holding the first rounds in a trilateral format — Russia, Ukraine and the United States — with European representatives joining at a later stage. 'We have working contacts with the Americans. So it is logical, of course, for at least the first rounds of negotiations to take place in a trilateral format,' the agency quotes him as saying. This is the Kremlin's position, not an arrangement agreed with Kyiv or Washington: the publication does not report any reaction from Ukraine, the United States or European countries to such a proposal.

Russia–Africa Summit

Separately, Ushakov said that attempts to disrupt the Russia–Africa summit had failed, without giving details. The third summit, held in Moscow for the first time, ended on October 29; it was attended by delegations from 48 African countries, including 22 heads of state. The previous summit was held in St. Petersburg in 2023, and the first one in Sochi in 2019.