News > Putin-Zelensky talks would be 'counterproductive', Moscow says 

Putin-Zelensky talks would be 'counterproductive', Moscow says 

Lavrov said the current crisis has been brewing so long, all these years, that a huge number of problems have built up; therefore, just meeting and exchanging views on what you think and I think would be counterproductive now.

As the countries are set to resume in-person peace talks in Istanbul, Lavrov said Moscow maintains its demands for demilitarisation and "denazification" in Ukraine.