Kremlin: No plans for Putin meeting with Kanye West

The Kremlin has stated that it has no plans to arrange a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and the American rapper Kanye West, who is now known as Ye. West is scheduled to perform two concerts in St. Petersburg in October, making him one of the most prominent Western music stars to perform in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. Tickets for the shows, priced between 9,000 and 160,000 rubles (€92 to €1,642), reportedly sold out quickly. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov swiftly dismissed the suggestion of a meeting, telling reporters that it was not the presidential administration's topic. West's European tour has faced cancellations and backlash due to his history of antisemitic remarks and praise for Adolf Hitler. In Russia, conservative lawmaker Vitaly Milonov suggested West perform traditional Russian songs and cease his controversial behavior. The Kremlin has previously cited the need to extinguish Nazism in Kyiv as a reason for its war in Ukraine.