Putin open to phone call with Zelensky, Ukraine suspects a Kremlin trap

The Kremlin is seeking to avoid a face-to-face meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin by proposing they speak by phone instead, the Kyiv Independent has learned.

The apparent move comes as Kyiv insists the two leaders should meet in person to address the most pressing issues in negotiations, including Russia's territorial demands and security guarantees. Such a meeting would be their first since 2019.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Oct. 30 that Putin was "open to dialogue with everyone." Asked whether the Russian leader would speak with Zelensky by phone, Peskov added that "no one has called yet."

The comments came as Ukraine prepares for talks with Russia and the U.S. in Abu Dhabi, which Kyiv sees as a possible starting point for a meeting between the countries' leaders.

Ukrainian officials privately suspect Moscow is trying to arrange a phone call that they believe would achieve little while avoiding the prospect of a face-to-face meeting.

"They've already tried to do this over the phone," one senior Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Meeting or a call?

Kyiv has long pushed for a direct meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

The two leaders last met in person in Paris in December 2019 during the Normandy Format talks mediated by France and Germany. They have not held direct talks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine has made several attempts to arrange a meeting since then.

Zelensky invited Putin to Istanbul for talks on May 16, 2025, proposing a trilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to advance peace efforts. Putin declined to attend and instead sent a delegation led by a low-level presidential aide, Vladimir Medinsky.

After meeting Putin in Alaska in August 2025, the U.S. president said he was working to arrange a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

Trump later said Putin was reluctant to meet Zelensky because "he doesn't like him."

Now, every time the Ukrainian side raises the idea of a meeting at the level of leaders, the Kremlin challenges the Ukrainian president to come to Moscow for it. Zelensky has called for Putin to meet him in a neutral location.

Kyiv continues to argue that only direct talks between the leaders can produce meaningful decisions on the most difficult issues. Ukrainian officials say the Russian representatives sent to negotiations do not have the authority to make such decisions.

"Territorial issues can only be discussed by the leaders of the countries at war, and only at their level," Zelensky told reporters on Oct. 27. "No one else has the authority to do so."

Territory remains one of the main obstacles to an agreement.

The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected a ceasefire and demanded that Kyiv surrender the parts of Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts that Russian forces have failed to capture. The strategically important regions in eastern Ukraine remain central to the negotiations.

Ukraine, by contrast, has called for a ceasefire along the current front line.

Several people familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent that Washington supports the idea of a leaders' meeting and that Trump could help arrange one.

The G20 summit in Miami in December could serve as a possible venue, the people said. Under this scenario, if Putin accepts Trump's invitation to attend, Zelensky could also travel there to meet the Russian leader.

Kyiv warns against sidestepping direct talks

As Ukraine pushes for a meeting, its officials believe Moscow is trying to undermine the effort by offering alternatives that would not require Putin to meet Zelensky.

One senior Ukrainian official questioned whether a phone call could resolve the issues at stake without U.S. involvement.

"Well, what do we want? To reach a final decision on key issues and security guarantees," the official told the Kyiv Independent. "Is it possible to do this over the phone — and only over the phone — without the U.S.? No."

"We need a trilateral format with the U.S., plus some involvement from the Europeans... But they're like, 'Well, just go to Moscow,' or call us, but what good will a phone call do?"

Ukrainian officials fear that Moscow's insistence on a phone call could give it another reason to walk away from negotiations without making meaningful commitments. They argue a meeting with third parties would better address the disputes.

Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S. plan to hold talks in Abu Dhabi in November, focusing on steps to de-escalate the war. Moscow has signaled readiness to resume negotiations with Kyiv after a pause of more than eight months.

Zelensky said the planned technical talks should seek concrete progress on de-escalation, including an energy and maritime ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, and discussions about a possible trilateral meeting between the leaders.

Kyiv does not expect working-level negotiations alone to end the war.

Ukrainian officials say Putin must take part in the process himself if the talks are to produce actual decisions.

"Putin needs to come out of his bunker and take part in the trilateral talks," the senior Ukrainian official said. "And personally confirm that he is ending the war."