Moscow says any meeting must follow “concrete agreements” as Ukraine awaits Russian demands memo.
The Kremlin on Wednesday rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for a trilateral summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, as Kyiv seeks to pressure Moscow to halt its three-year-long invasion.
Moscow insisted that any meeting between Putin and Zelensky could only occur after negotiators from both sides reach “concrete agreements.”
Earlier this month, Putin also rebuffed proposals to meet Zelensky in Turkey. The Kremlin leader has repeatedly dismissed Zelensky as an illegitimate head of state and has openly called for his ouster.
Meanwhile, former U.S. President Trump has voiced frustration at both Moscow and Kyiv over their failure to reach a peace deal to end the war.
In recent weeks, both sides have exchanged massive air strikes. Overnight, Ukraine launched nearly 300 drones at Russia, according to Moscow’s defense ministry.
“If Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or if everyone wants it to be a trilateral one, I don’t mind. I’m ready for any format,” Zelensky told reporters Tuesday in remarks published Wednesday.
Asked about Zelensky’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “Such a meeting must be the result of concrete agreements between the two delegations [Ukrainian and Russian].”
The first direct peace talks in over three years, held in Istanbul earlier this month, produced no breakthroughs. Moscow has rejected coordinated Western calls for an immediate cease-fire.
Sanctions and battlefield pressures
Zelensky has also urged Washington to deliver a tough sanctions package targeting Moscow’s banking and energy sectors.
“Trump confirmed that if Russia does not stop, sanctions will be imposed. We discussed two main aspects: energy and the banking system. Will the U.S. impose sanctions on these two sectors? I very much hope so,” Zelensky said.
Over the weekend, Trump called Putin “crazy” after a massive Russian strike killed at least 13 people across Ukraine. On Tuesday, Trump continued to lash out at the Russian leader.
“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, a lot of really bad things would already have happened to Russia — and I mean REALLY BAD,” Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social. “He’s playing with fire!”
Though Trump has repeatedly threatened new sanctions on Russia, he has yet to implement them.
Despite months of U.S.-led diplomacy, the two sides appear far from a settlement. Tens of thousands have died since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Much of eastern and southern Ukraine lies in ruins, and Moscow’s military now controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.
Hours after Zelensky’s remarks, Ukraine launched one of its largest drone barrages yet, forcing Moscow’s three main airports to suspend flights for hours overnight, Russian aviation authorities said.
Ukraine has accused Russia of stalling peace efforts and refusing to halt its invasion. Kyiv has yet to receive a promised Russian “memorandum” outlining its demands for a peace agreement, which Putin said he would send.
Work on the document is in its “final stages,” Peskov said Wednesday.
No decision has been made on where the next round of talks will take place, after Moscow rejected proposals to hold them at the Vatican. Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News on Tuesday that talks would “probably” be held in Geneva.
“There’s a huge collection of nuances that need to be discussed,” Peskov said when asked about Trump’s growing frustration over the slow pace of progress.
On the battlefield, Zelensky said Russia is massing over 50,000 troops along the front line near Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, where Moscow’s forces have seized several settlements as they attempt to establish what Putin has called a “buffer zone” inside Ukrainian territory.
The Russian military said Wednesday it had captured another village in Sumy.
Zelensky traveled to Germany on Wednesday to meet Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has pledged strong support for Kyiv’s fight against Russia.
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