Vladimir Putin says he is 'READY to meet' Volodymyr Zelensky face-to-face

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is ready to meet his Ukrainiancounterpart face-to-face, according to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Lavrov told reporters today that Putin is ready to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky as long as all issues that need discussing are well worked out beforehand.

"Our president has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Mr. Zelensky, with the understanding that all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well-developed, and experts and ministers will prepare the relevant recommendations," he told a press conference following a meeting in India. He also made a jab against Zelensky in relation to parliamentary developments in Ukraine regarding his legitimacy to sign such agreements.

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Russian propaganda, and even Putin himself, have sought to delegitimise Zelensky as a negotiating partner, and have in the past said the Kremlin will only meet with a new Ukrainian president.

In February, Ukraine's parliament approved a resolution that allowed Zelensky to stay in office and deferred the presidential election while the country is at war.

"And, of course, with the understanding that when and if - I hope when - it comes to signing future agreements, the issue of the legitimacy of the person who signs these agreements on the Ukrainian side will be resolved," the minister said.

Lavrov's comments seemed to be a confirmation of reports from the White House which declared a tentative agreement had been reached between the two foes.

Donald Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "encouraging conversations" between Trump and Putin had led to the maligned Russian leader agreeing to "the next phase of the peace process". "If necessary" the meeting would be followed with trilateral talks with Trump, Leavitt added.

Actual details about a potential meeting haven't been confirmed as the world awaits a response from Ukraine.

Zelensky has previously said he is willing to meet his Russian nemesis. However, it's thought any summit would have to be held on neutral soil.

Speaking to the BBC, a Ukrainian source said Ukraine "immediately rejected" a suggestion from Putin that he and Zelensky could meet in Moscow.

Leavitt said Trump hopes the pair can "engage in direct diplomacy". She did not comment on reports Putin has suggested the Russian capital as a place bilateral talks could be held.

Trump said earlier he had been working on arranging a meeting. "They haven’t been exactly best friends," he told Fox News. "It only matters if we get things done… I hope that President Zelensky will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility also."

A face-to-face meeting between the pair could be a remarkable development and step towards ending a war that has raged since Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In the time since, the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates more than 13,800 civilians have been killed. Civilian deaths in Russian-occupied areas are hard to calculate.