Eastern Ukraine CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signaling this week that he is open to peace talks should be viewed with vast, overshadowing caveats, and the weight of Ukraine’s - and the West’s - past experience of Russian diplomacy. Putin questioned the legitimacy of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who Moscow has repeatedly assailed, after Kyiv had to delay elections because of the very war Putin started. Zelensky has said he hopes China - Russia’s most potent ally but only partial supporter in the Ukraine war - will attend. Putin may be talking peace now to suggest to Beijing to not be involved in diplomacy about Russia without Russia present. Valentyn Ogirenko/ReutersUkraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Friday that Putin’s hints at peace talks were directly aimed at sabotaging the summit.

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