Russians Welcome Idea Of Putin And Zelensky Meeting

Russians welcomed Tuesday the idea of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, though not everyone was convinced it would bring peace after nearly three-and-a-half years of conflict.

After meeting Putin in Alaska on Friday and Zelensky in Washington on Monday, US President Donald Trump announced he would arrange face-to-face talks between the two leaders, their first in almost six years.

Ukraine cut diplomatic ties with Russia after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and the two leaders have had no direct contact since.

"It would be good if such an event took place. I am sure that the conflict would end and everything would be fine," 39-year-old musician Roman told AFP in Moscow.

"Many young people have died. It would be good if such a meeting had taken place earlier," he said.

Vyacheslav, a 23-year-old civil servant, agreed that a meeting between the two leaders was long overdue.

"It would have been better if the meeting had taken place earlier. But then there were a lot of interested parties and it turned out the way it did," he told AFP in Moscow.

Russia hoped to take Kyiv in days after launching its offensive in 2022, but pulled back from the Ukrainian capital after encountering stiff resistance.

Its forces have since seized large swathes of the east and south of the country, while tens of thousands of soldiers have died on both sides.

"I want everything to end peacefully," said Roman. "We are one people, we are Slavs, and we must love and respect each other."

Ilya Denisov, a 19-year-old student from Saint Petersburg, said he was sceptical the talks would succeed.

"Nothing will change," he told AFP. "Ukraine should be divided. Leave Russia what it controls and go their separate ways."

Russia currently occupies a fifth of Ukraine.

It annexed Crimea in 2014 following a referendum denounced as a sham by Kyiv and the West, and did the same in 2022 in four Ukrainian regions -- Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia -- though its forces have not fully captured them.

Russia has signalled it might freeze the front line in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in exchange for Ukraine withdrawing from land it already controls in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, but Kyiv has shot down the proposal.

Vyacheslav was hopeful the two sides could agree a deal.

"I hope we can agree on mutually beneficial terms," he said.

Tatiana, a 29-year-old resident of Moscow, told AFP she supported the idea of a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

"If, of course, they come to a good result," she added.

Sales manager Ksenia was not convinced the two leaders should meet at all.

The Russian leader has repeatedly questioned Zelensky's legitimacy, saying his mandate expired under martial law.

"I am against the meeting," she told AFP. "What is ours now must remain ours. People shed blood for this land, so it is ours."