New Delhi, May 13 -- The Kremlin said Tuesday that any potential face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy would only take place after the negotiation process over the Ukraine conflict is fully completed, reinforcing Moscow's position that direct talks between the two leaders should serve as the final confirmation of a broader settlement rather than the beginning of new bargaining.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow remains open to a summit between the two presidents, but only once negotiators finalize all key political and military arrangements linked to the war in Ukraine.

"A meeting makes sense only if the process is fully finalized," Peskov told reporters in Mosco...