MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Persident Vladimir Putin will discuss the Ukraine crisis with UK Prime Minister David Cameron and France's leader Francois Hollande in Paris on Thursday, one day before the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
It will be the first visit time since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis that Vladimir Putin will meet his Western coutnerparts.
Putin and Cameron are expected to discuss the latest events and overall situation in Ukraine, a representative of British Prime Minister’s office told RIA Novosti.
"The UK made it clear that it expects Russia to make steps to de-escalate tensions. After the presidential elections in Ukraine, conducted in accordance with international standards, it’s time for the Russian president to have talks with President-elect Petro Poroshenko and discuss steps to de-escalate tensions," she said.
The talks between Putin and Cameron may be productive and make the UK change its stance on the Ukrainian crisis, political analyst Kirill Koktysh from Moscow's University of Foreign Relations, believes.
“The sides will discuss the Ukrainian problem and, in a broader sense, the battle for Europe which is currently underway between Russia and the US,” he said.
Koktysh added that "the victory of anti-European party, the UK Independence Party, in the [European] elections would give cause for Cameron to find other arguments for a conversation with Putin, including the Ukrainian problem".
The situation in Ukraine would also be one of the main topics of discussion between Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande.
Experts believe that the upcoming meeting could launch the process of the normalization of the lately strained Russian-Western relations.
The very fact that the meeting has been planned shows that the parties have something to offer each other, Yury Rubinsky, Director of the Centre for French Studies, told RIA Novosti.
"This meeting would not have happened if the parties' positions were incompatible. If the parties had agreed to exchange opinions, then, there are some solutions that can be offered," he noted.
Ukraine underwent a regime change in February when the country’s parliament, backed by far-right movements, voted to strip President Viktor Yanukovych of his powers. Crimea, formerly Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula, refused to recognize the legitimacy of Kiev's interim government and rejoined Russia in March following a referendum.
Petro Poroshenko, a former diplomat and a successful businessman, garnered 54.7 percent in the May 25 snap presidential vote. The vote came amid a large-scale military operation launched by the new Kiev authorities to crack down on protesters in the southeastern parts of the country, who refused to recognize the legitimacy of the current government.
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