Putin says meeting with Zelensky only makes sense to sign agreement

Russian President Vladimir Putin said any potential meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would only be meaningful if it led to signing an agreement. The Russian leader also repeated his long-standing claim that the war between Russia and Ukraine began because Ukraine refused to listen to the current U.S. administration. Putin argued that the conflict would not have occurred if former U.S. President Donald Trump had remained in office during the period in question. Responding to Zelensky's request for a meeting, Putin said such a conversation currently holds no significance. He characterized Zelensky's message as containing a degree of "arrogance" and questioned whether the communication was genuinely seeking a meeting or was intended to exclude him from one. Putin indicated he believed it was more appropriate to reject the meeting request for now.