Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Presidential Office, said this in a comment to RBC-Ukraine.According to him, Zelenskyy’s motivation regarding a possible meeting with Putin is clear."The President of Ukraine clearly understands that neither Medinsky (head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky) nor Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov) have any real authority. Obviously, they do not make any decisions; they can’t even conduct themselves appropriately," Podolyak said.In his opinion, the Kremlin will agree to direct negotiations if sanctions against Russia start to work."There is definitely a possibility (of a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin) if the sanctions start to work. Again, not just statements, but if the sanctions actually start to work, and the cost of the war rises sharply for Russia and for Putin’s inner circle," said Yermak’s adviser.He also said that for such a meeting, it is necessary to ban people from the dictator’s inner circle from traveling around the world."This could work and force Putin to a meeting in order to fix the status quo as it is today," the adviser to the head of the Presidential Office believes.Ukraine insists on direct negotiations between President Zelenskyy and the dictator of the Russian Federation, Putin. "Such a meeting could unlock real political progress. Russia must demonstrate its readiness," emphasized NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov after the third round of negotiations between the delegations in Istanbul.The spokesman for the Russian dictator, Dmitry Peskov, expressed doubts about the likelihood of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the end of August.