Kremlin: Putin, Ukraine leader meet unannounced; Kyiv denies

MOSCOW – The Kremlin’s spokesman says contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s leader have taken place outside the public eye, but Kyiv denies any meetings were held.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not specify on Sunday how many contacts the Russian president has had with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko or when the last one took place.

The Interfax news agency later cited Ukraine’s presidential office as saying there have been no bilateral meetings since the 2015 signing of the Minsk agreement, aimed at ending the war in eastern Ukraine with Russia-backed separatists.

Putin and Petroshenko met in Berlin in the fall of 2016 as part of a four-way summit on resolving the conflict.

Russian news agencies quote Peskov saying: “Such meetings take place, but we don’t report about them.”