Zelensky and Putin met in Paris a year ago / REUTERS

Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov has said a "substance" should be prepared for a new meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President, but so far it does not exist.

"Nobody needs a meeting for the sake of meeting. Any meeting of the heads of state should be well prepared," he told journalists, answering a question from an UNIAN correspondent in Russia about when a new meeting between the presidents could take place with the mediation of France and Germany.

"But they need some kind of substance they can grab onto so that they could string some understanding on it, but so far we have no substance," Peskov said.

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Read alsoUkraine's envoy calls on Russia to take charge of fulfillment of Normandy agreementsThe press secretary expressed confidence only the implementation of the agreements reached a year ago at the Normandy Four summit in Paris could be the "substance."

"In this regard, the situation is difficult," he added.

Normandy Four summit: Background

  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Paris on December 9, 2019, to discuss ways to end the war in Donbas.
  • They reaffirmed their commitment to the full and comprehensive ceasefire regime by the end of 2019 and supported the arrangement within the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on the disengagement of troops and weapons at three new sites in eastern Ukraine by the end of March 2020.
  • The leaders encouraged the TCG to promote the release and exchange of held persons by the end of the year on an "all for all" basis, starting with "all identified for all identified persons."
  • The parties expressed their interest in reaching agreements within the Normandy format and the TCG on all legal aspects of the law on the special order of local self-government (on the special status) of certain areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions – as specified in the Comprehensive Package of Measures for the Implementation of Minsk agreements of 2015 – to ensure its continued application.