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Zelensky invites Putin to meet at Donbas front
Summary
A look back at the Ukrainian president's offer of a face-to-face meeting, set against a dispute over the Kerch Strait.
What did Ukraine's president offer Russia on 21 April 2021? Volodymyr Zelensky invited his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to a face-to-face meeting on the front line in the war-torn Donbas, to negotiate an end to the conflict.
The invitation came days after a separate dispute between the two countries. On 15 April 2021, Ukraine protested an alleged Russian announcement that, beginning the following week, the Kerch Strait would be closed to foreign warships and state ships until October.
The two reports show Kyiv pursuing two tracks at once: it objected to the reported restrictions on the strait while publicly proposing direct talks on the war in Donbas.
