No progress on Putin-Zelensky meeting; Biden's 'butcher' remark 'arouses concern': Kremlin

Peskov said that US President Joe Biden’s new remarks on Putin were concerning and the Kremlin will keep a close eye on the US leader’s statements.

New Delhi:No progress has been made so far on arranging a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday, Russian news agency TASS reported. "No, there is no progress [on this issue]," Peskov said in response to a question on such a possible meeting, and even with regards to the negotiations between both countries’ delegations scheduled for the coming days in Istanbul.

Earlier, Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky who leads the Russian delegation said on his Telegram channel that the delegations of the two countries decided to hold the next round of face-to-face talks on March 29-30. Later, the office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported that the Turkish leader and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had agreed to hold the meeting of the delegations in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, Peskov said that US President Joe Biden’s new remarks on Putin were concerning and the Kremlin will keep a close eye on the US leader’s statements. "This is a statement that certainly arouses concerns. We will keep a close eye on the US president’s statements, we will take note of them and will continue doing this in the future," Peskov said. Biden during his visit to Poland on Saturday had called Putin a "butcher" and said that he “cannot remain in power” escalating rhetoric against Moscow.