Putin open to contact with European leaders – Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has always said that he is open to talks with European leaders, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

The remark came shortly after the second day of trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine talks ended in Abu Dhabi. European representatives, who traveled to the UAE to meet separately with Ukrainian and US delegates, have not been included in the negotiations.

The Russian president has not yet decided whether he will attend the next G20 Leaders’ Summit, Peskov said. The event is scheduled for December 14-15 in Florida, US.

“Putin has always maintained, and continues to maintain, that he is open to contact with everyone, including the Europeans,” he said, adding that this includes German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Merz has recently suggested that long-frozen Berlin-Moscow contacts could be renewed at the upcoming G20 summit.

“If [Putin] is there, I will not shy away from the opportunity to talk to him,” the German chancellor said last week.

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