President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that all issues regarding Ukraine are resolved only in Ukraine and by the Ukrainian state. He said this in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency, commenting on the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin that "Ukraine is under the external control of the United States, Germany and France."

"In the real world, all issues regarding Ukraine are resolved exclusively in Ukraine and by the Ukrainian state, and certainly not in any neighboring country and certainly not by 'shadow intermediaries' who are now under house arrest or on the wanted list," Zelensky said.

Zelensky confirmed that he is ready to meet with Putin, "if it really leads to solution to a number of crisis issues that objectively exist in bilateral relations between Ukraine and Russia."

According to Zelensky, the thesis about any "external control" is an exclusively propaganda mantra for the domestic consumer in Russia itself.

"I will add that, as the recent U.S.-Russia summit has shown, the issue of Ukraine is not resolved even in the format of direct communication between the U.S. and Russian presidents. As it has been, let's speak frankly, almost always. Today everything works differently. Consultations with Ukraine before the Summit and public voicing of the position, agreed with us. This unambiguously indicates that the subjectivity of our state has significantly increased. Why did this happen? Because the subjectivity of the state always grows when you are ready to defend the position of your state publicly, regularly and at the system level. And not to exchange the reputation of the state for some kind of situational profits for yourself," he said.

The President reported that on July 12 he will have a personal meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and at the end of July there will be direct talks with U.S. President Joe Biden.

Zelensky also said that he was not personally "touched" by Putin's phrase that "what is the point in talking with Zelensky if everything is decided in Washington?"

"It looks like, if I said, for example: why do Russians need elections, direct democracy, if everything is decided exclusively in the Kremlin?" he said.