The Kremlin on Monday ruled out the possibility of a trilateral summit in the near future between Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to address the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.
“To be honest, it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during his daily press briefing. “President Putin has repeatedly expressed his willingness to hold high-level meetings, but he also emphasized that such encounters must result from agreements reached in prior negotiations.”
The idea of a summit began to take shape in mid-May, when Trump signaled his willingness to attend a first meeting in Istanbul. However, Putin at the time declined to meet with Zelensky within that framework.
From Washington, the White House stated Monday that Trump would be “open” to participating in a four-way summit that would also include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the proposed host. “The president has said he’s open to it, but he wants both leaders—Putin and Zelensky—and both sides—Russia and Ukraine—to sit at the table together. We’ve seen a step in that direction today thanks to President Trump’s efforts,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Erdogan formally proposed the four-party summit to take place at the end of June. Zelensky has already given his approval, while Putin and Trump have not met face-to-face since their bilateral summit in Helsinki in 2018. Their last phone conversation was on May 19.
Nevertheless, Moscow remains cautious. Peskov warned against expecting rapid progress following the latest round of direct talks held Monday in Turkey, which ended without a ceasefire agreement. “It would be a mistake to expect immediate decisions or breakthroughs,” he said. “The resolution of the conflict is extremely complex and full of nuances,” he added, stressing that Russia’s priority remains “eliminating the root causes” of the war.
The second round of talks in Istanbul ended without a truce, although both sides did agree to exchange all severely wounded or ill prisoners of war, as well as all POWs under the age of 25.
According to a memorandum published by Russian media, Moscow is demanding that Kyiv recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea and four additional regions, renounce membership in military alliances such as NATO, and limit the size of its armed forces. Russia is also calling for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held within 100 days of lifting martial law in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s response was categorical. The document presented by its delegation in Istanbul outright rejected all of Moscow’s key demands. Nonetheless, Kyiv proposed holding another round of dialogue between June 20 and 30.
Despite the setbacks, Peskov described some of the agreements as “important” and assured that “work will continue.”
