For a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, the negotiation process must first be resumed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this during a press conference on Wednesday, June 8.

"We have explained all this many times. Zelensky wants a meeting for the sake of a meeting. He has seven Fridays a week. He has stated repeatedly: I will talk, we will resume negotiations only if the Russians remove their contingents to the February 24 line. But this is not a serious approach. Moreover, it completely contradicts the initiatives which the Ukrainian delegation itself put forward on March 29 here in Istanbul," he said.

According to Lavrov, it is necessary for the negotiating teams to resume their work.