The Kremlin has dismissed the idea of a trilateral meeting soon involving Russian President Vladimir Putin, former President Trump, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Well, frankly, it’s not unlikely that it will happen,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, as noted by the Russian media outlet TASS.
Peskov mentioned that preparations for President Putin’s involvement are ongoing, but that discussions must stem from technical agreements and expert-level talks.
The Ukrainian and Russian delegations recently met in person for the second time on Monday in Turkey. Although their discussion lasted over an hour, they did not achieve any major breakthroughs regarding ceasefire negotiations, aside from agreeing to increase prisoner exchanges. The White House has indicated that Trump is willing to meet both Putin and Zelensky.
There remains a significant gap between Russia and Ukraine in reaching a contract to end their three-year conflict in Eastern Europe.
Reports from Russian state media outline the Kremlin’s demands, which include preventing Ukraine from joining a military alliance, reducing the size of the Ukrainian military, withdrawing from partially occupied regions such as Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia, and recognizing Russian as the international language.
Ukraine, on the other hand, is calling for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, a demand that Russia has refused to accept. Ukraine firmly rejects acknowledging the Kremlin’s claims over parts of its territory, while the international community stands against the Kremlin’s sovereignty assertions.
For months, Trump has advocated for an end to Europe’s largest land war since World War II, though he has recently expressed dissatisfaction with Putin due to Russian air assaults on Ukrainian cities.
The ongoing discussions have led Ukraine to ramp up its military efforts, including launching significant attacks and using drones deep within Russian territory to target airbases. Ukrainian officials report that these drone strikes have resulted in the damage or destruction of more than 40 aircraft from the Russian bomber fleet.
Additionally, Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it used underwater explosives to strike the bridge linking Russia to Crimea.
