MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to visit, and China unveiled multiple new weapons at a massive military parade. Meanwhile, Kiev expects security guarantees from its allies "soon after tomorrow." These stories topped Thursday's newspaper headlines in Russia.
Russia is ready to receive Vladimir Zelensky in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters at a news conference following his official visit to China, even as the issue of the Kiev administration’s legitimacy has yet to be resolved. The Russian side sees a "light at the end of the tunnel" in the Ukrainian settlement, but if that doesn’t work out, Russia is ready to continue its special military operation. Also, the Russian leader highly praised the results of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit as he said that the contours of a multipolar world that is taking shape today have already become visible, and Russia and China play an important role here. Putin highlighted Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s global governance initiative.
Meanwhile, Zelensky earlier declined to visit Moscow, saying he would prefer a neutral location instead, sources told AFP. This situation shows that the two countries are not moving toward rapprochement or at least on a parallel course, Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University, told Izvestia. "So far, there are no prerequisites for a Russia-Ukraine summit," he argued.
