The Kremlin reacted to the proposal of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to hold a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Kostiantynivka, which the Russian authorities had previously without evidence declared occupied. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the Russian dictator would not go to the city, instead suggesting that Zelensky come to Moscow. This is reported by NV.
Meeting between Zelensky and Putin: what Peskov said about Kostiantynivka
In an interview with Russian propaganda media, Dmitry Peskov repeated Vladimir Putin's statement about the supposed full control of Russian troops over Kostiantynivka. At the same time, he dismissed the Ukrainian president's proposal to hold a meeting there.
«If Mr. Zelensky expresses a willingness to come to Russia in this way, we welcome this. But we would like to remind that President Putin spoke about the readiness to accept him in Moscow. After all, the capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, not Kostiantynivka», – Peskov stated.
As an argument for his words, the Kremlin representative only referred to the fact that Russian military allegedly communicated with Putin from Kostiantynivka, as well as to videos from Russian drones. He did not provide any other evidence of control over the city.
Kostiantynivka remains under Ukraine's control
The day before, Vladimir Putin during a meeting with the leadership of the Russian army claimed the supposed capture of Kostiantynivka, the «liberation» of the entire Luhansk region, and the advancement of Russian troops in Donetsk.
These claims were dismissed by Ukrainian military and international analysts. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the group of troops «East» stated that the Defense Forces continue to hold Kostiantynivka and destroy Russian units attempting to infiltrate the city.
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also reported that the Russian presence in Kostiantynivka is limited to individual sabotage groups and does not indicate the establishment of control over the city.
Earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky called the Kremlin's statements lies and ironically suggested that Putin meet in Kostiantynivka. The President emphasized that if the city is indeed under the control of the Russian Federation, as asserted by the Russian side, there should be no obstacles for such a meeting.