The Kremlin on Tuesday gave a cautious response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's apparent invitation to a future peace summit, saying that Russia first needs to understand what Kyiv means before attending talks.
Zelensky said on Monday that Russia "should be" represented at a second summit on the Ukraine conflict, following high-level talks last month in Switzerland that Moscow did not attend.
"The first peace summit was not a peace summit at all. So perhaps it is necessary to first understand what he means," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian military's Zvezda television channel, responding to Zelensky's comments.
The Ukrainian leader's apparent welcoming of Russia to talks marked a change of tone from the first peace summit in Switzerland last month, ahead of which Zelensky categorically ruled out inviting Moscow. Both Russia and China were absent from that gathering.
The surprise comments from Kyiv come as Ukrainian forces lose ground on the front line and as the United States gears up for a presidential election that could fundamentally change Western support for Ukraine.
Leaders and top officials from more than 90 states gathered at a Swiss mountainside resort on June 15 for the two-day summit dedicated to resolving the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
The Kremlin criticized that gathering, saying any discussions for ending the war that did not include Russia were "absurd."
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