Putin Says Zelenskiy Genuinely Wants to End Conflict in Ukraine

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said he believes his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is “genuinely” seeking a resolution to the five-year conflict in his country involving Kremlin-backed separatists.

“If he has the political courage and strength to carry this through he will prove himself as an honest and courageous politician who’s capable of implementing decisions that have been adopted,” Putin told the Valdai Club foreign-policy forum in Russia’s Sochi on Thursday. “I think he genuinely wants to do it.”

Talks to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists produced the first major breakthrough on Tuesday since a stalled 2015 peace accord, paving the way for an international summit to cement progress.

Negotiators in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, agreed on a schedule under which elections would be held in the breakaway regions and a new law passed granting them special status. The plan known as the Steinmeier formula was proposed by Frank-Walter Steinmeier when he was Germany’s foreign minister.

The accord follows a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia last month and came as Zelenskiy, who won election with a landslide in April, targets better relations with Moscow.

“Society clearly wants to see a resolution. That’s why Mr. Zelenskiy won so convincingly in the elections,” Putin said. “Can he do this or not? Can he overcome those who are against this process, it’s hard for me to say now.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin

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