Kazakhstan denies making official offer to host Putin-Zelensky talks
NUR-SULTAN. Nov 18 (Interfax) - The proposal of first Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to arrange a face-to-face between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, in Kazakhstan was a topic for consideration by experts; no official invitation has been made, Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi said.
"You have to understand that the Elbasy [Leader of the Nation, first Kazakh President Nazarbayev] said so at the Astana Club, and the Astana Club [format] implies that this is just a topic for discussion. [...] It was neither an official offer nor an official stand," Tleuberdi said in response to the media question regarding Nazarbayev's initiative of a Russian-Ukrainian summit hosted by Kazakhstan.
"No, there are no such official documents," Tleuberdi said.
Nazarbayev said at the fifth meeting of the Astana Club political forum on November 12 that Zelensky and Putin could agree on settling the Donbas conflict if they meet in person and suggested that their meeting be held in Kazakhstan.
Putin said in his comments on Nazarbayev's suggestion that he was not planning to meet with Zelensky before the Normandy-format summit.
For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that Kyiv was not planning a Ukrainian-Russian summit for the moment either.