FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with heads of the world's leading news agencies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 6, 2019.
Putin Open to Talks With Ukraine's New President
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA —
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is open for talks with Ukraine's newly elected president.
Asked Friday why he didn't congratulate comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy on taking office as Ukrainian president last month, Putin pointed at Zelenskiy's statements in which he called Russia an aggressor.
FILE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy looks at documents at his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 20, 2019.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and Moscow's support for a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
Putin said that Zelenskiy is a talented actor, but noted that ``there is a difference between playing and being.''
He softened the statement by adding that Zelenskiy may have the makings of a leader and said that he is open for a meeting with Ukraine's new leader.
