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Zelensky's front-line invitation to Putin, 21 April 2021
Summary
A look back at an offer of face-to-face talks in Donbas, made amid sharp friction between Moscow, Washington and Kyiv.
What did it mean when Ukraine's president invited his Russian counterpart to meet on the front line? On 21 April 2021, President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Vladimir Putin to a face-to-face meeting in the war-torn Donbas to negotiate an end to the conflict.
The offer came at a tense moment in Russia's relations with its neighbours and with the West. On 15 April 2021, Ukraine had 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 same day, the United States imposed retaliatory measures on Russia over the 2020 United States federal government data breach, interference in the 2020 United States elections, and the occupation of and human rights abuses in Crimea. Washington banned trade in bonds newly issued by Russia's Central Bank, National Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance. It formally named the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service as responsible for the data breach, blacklisted 32 Russian entities and individuals, and expelled ten Russian diplomats.
Russia denied the allegations. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the U.S. ambassador to say that a series of retaliatory measures would follow soon. A ministry spokesperson also said a potential summit between the two countries' leaders might not take place.
An offer set against a wider standoff
Against that backdrop, the invitation put the Donbas war back at the centre of the diplomatic conversation. Kyiv framed it as a direct route to negotiating an end to the fighting, with the front line as the proposed venue.
The Kerch Strait protest and the U.S. sanctions show how many fronts Russia's dealings with Ukraine and the United States were open on in the same week.
