Putin's message reached Zelensky. And now what?

Putin's message reached Zelensky. And now what?

The message refers to the importance of "direct dialogue" between Moscow and Kyiv. Embaló revealed this at a joint press conference with Zelensky in Kyiv, a day after the meeting with Putin.

"My dear brother, yesterday I was in Russia with President Putin, who asked me to pass a message on to you, to talk with you, considering that direct dialogue is very important for our future joint actions," Embaló said.

The footage of the press conference was published on Zelensky's Telegram channel, with Embaló's words being translated into Ukrainian.

The president of Guinea-Bissau also revealed that he sees himself as "the bearer of certain impulses" contributing to the restoration of relations between Russia and Ukraine. Before the meeting with Zelensky, Embaló told reporters that he believes that Putin is "very open to negotiations with President Zelensky" and that he is looking forward to "conveying this good will" to the Ukrainian leader.

Zelensky, responding to Embaló's statements at the press conference, said that "infrastructure should not be blown up" to build bridges between countries. Zelensky was apparently referring to strikes on Ukrainian power plants launched by Russia on October 10, in what Moscow described as retaliation for Kyiv's "terrorist attack" on the Crimean bridge.

The Ukrainian leader also said that any conversation implies respect from one country to another, starting with respect for "its territorial integrity, sovereignty and borders."

Earlier this month, Putin cited Ukraine's refusal to talk as a reason for the absence of negotiations between the two countries. He also noted that during negotiations mediated by Turkey at the end of March, Russia and Ukraine reached a preliminary agreement, but as soon as Russian troops had withdrawn from Kyiv, "the leadership in Kyiv lost all desire for talks."

Putin's remarks came shortly after Zelensky signed a decree banning any negotiations with him and saying Ukraine will only talk to Russia when it appoints another president.

The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly stated that his only goal in the conflict is to defeat Russia on the battlefield and to regain control of all territories that Kyiv believes are under its sovereignty.