Putin will not greet Zelensky on inauguration

MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to greet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on his inauguration.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday said no contact between the two leaders was on the agenda.

He said that Putin would congratulate his newly-elected counterpart if Zelensky makes progress in settling the conflict in south-east of Ukraine and mending relations with Russia.

"President Putin will congratulate President Zelensky on the first successes in the settlement of the internal conflict in the south-east of Ukraine, as well as on the first successes in the normalization of Russian-Ukrainian relations," he said.

Peskov, however, did not specify these "first successes". He only said that they were too obvious.

He added that conflict on Donbas must be resolved on the basis of the Minsk agreement.

Both countries have been at loggerheads since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea after a controversial referendum.

Turkey, as well as the UN General Assembly, viewed the annexation as illegal.

Ukraine has also blamed Kremlin for separatist violence in eastern Ukraine, near the border with Russia.