News Feed

Kremlin denies Trump, Putin ever agreed on face-to-face Zelensky meeting

2 min read
Kremlin denies Trump, Putin ever agreed on face-to-face Zelensky meeting
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov speaks with journalists in Moscow on March 13, 2025. (Maxim Shemetov / POOL / AFP)

There was no agreement between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Sept. 2, contradicting Trump's earlier claims.

The U.S. president had said on Aug. 19 that he began "arrangements" for a Putin-Zelensky meeting, with the possibility of trilateral talks after.

"Right now, there is talk of a trilateral meeting, of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. But specifically, as far as I know, there was no agreement between Putin and Trump on this," Ushakov told Russian propagandist Pavel Zarubin.

The statement follows the expiration of another deadline set by Trump for Moscow to move toward a settlement in its war.

Ushakov said raising the level of delegations in Ukrainian-Russian negotiations had been discussed during Trump and Putin's phone call and at their Alaska summit, but no agreement was made.

"So far, what's being broadcast in the press is not exactly what we agreed on," he said.

Sign up for our newsletter
WTF is wrong with Russia?

Trump met Zelensky and European leaders at the White House on Aug. 18, three days after his meeting with Putin. Zelensky said after the talks that Ukraine was prepared to engage in unconditional negotiations with Moscow at the highest level.

The Ukrainian president has repeatedly voiced readiness for a direct meeting with Putin, urging the U.S. to impose tougher measures if Russia continues to avoid such talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Aug. 22 that a Zelensky-Putin meeting was "not ready at all," accusing Ukraine of rejecting several preconditions and questioning Zelensky's legitimacy.

A source in Ukraine's President's Office told the Kyiv Independent earlier that a face-to-face meeting between Zelensky and Putin will not happen unless the U.S. ups its pressure on the Russian leader.

Trump said on Aug. 25 that Putin avoids meeting Zelensky because "he doesn't like him."

As Putin shakes hands with Modi, Xi, here’s the state of Russia’s allies
After three years of international isolation, Russian President Vladimir Putin is back at the forefront of the global stage. On Sept. 1 he was pictured standing shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of China and India, as Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin and called for a new world order. “We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practise true multilateralism,” he said. It’s a far cry from
Article image

Avatar
Tim Zadorozhnyy

News Editor

Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.

Read more
News Feed
Show More