Putin, Cameron to Hold Face-to-Face Ukraine Talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold face-to-face talks on the Ukraine crisis with British Prime Minister David Cameron, Downing Street said on Monday.
The two leaders will meet after they attend events to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, on Friday.
"It is an important opportunity to set out the importance of a dialogue between the Russian government and the new Ukrainian government following the presidential elections that have happened over the last week or so in Ukraine," Cameron's official spokesman told reporters.
The talks will take place the day after Cameron, U.S. President Barack Obama and other G7 leaders meet in Brussels for a summit at which Russia's annexation of Crimea and the tense situation in eastern Ukraine will be at the center of discussions.
The Brussels summit was arranged after the leaders decided to boycott a planned G8 summit to be held in the Russian resort of Sochi, as a result of Russia's actions in Crimea.
Putin reacted angrily last month to reported comments from Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, comparing him to Hitler.
Putin also does not plan to meet Ukraine's President elect Petro Poroshenko when he attends D-Day anniversary events in France on Friday, his spokesman told AFP.
"This question is not being worked upon," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday when asked whether the leaders would meet in France.
Pro-Western billionaire and chocolate company owner Poroshenko, who won last month's presidential election in Ukraine, is also due to attend the commemorations.
He has been trying to arrange what would be the first meeting between Putin and a Ukrainian leader since Russia's seizure of Crimea sparked the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
Source: Agence France Presse
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