Putin-Zelensky meeting 'not ready at all,' Kremlin says despite Trump push for peace deal
Plans for a bilateral summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky are "not ready at all," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News on Aug. 22.
The statement comes as a blow to U.S. President Donald Trump's push for a speedy peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. Following separate meetings with Putin and Zelensky, Trump said that the next step would be a bilateral summit between the two leaders, which he hoped would occur in the next two weeks.
Lavrov threw cold water on those plans in an interview with NBC News on Aug. 22.
"There is no meeting planned ... Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all," Lavrov said.
The Kremlin's top diplomat claimed that delays in arranging the meeting were due to Zelensky's rejection of "several principles" necessary for future peace talks, such as no NATO membership for Ukraine and the "discussion of territorial issues."
"Zelensky said no to everything," Lavrov said.
Zelensky in fact said he was prepared to discuss territory with Putin in a press conference after his White House meeting with Trump on Aug. 18.
"How can we meet with a person who is pretending to be a leader?" Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News on Aug. 22.
Undermining the legitimacy of Zelensky's government is a key tenet of Russian propaganda. Putin has previously refused to meet with Zelensky on these grounds, which form part of Moscow's justification for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Trump met directly with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska on Aug. 15 to discuss options for ending the war. Despite reaching no concrete agreements, Trump hailed the meeting as a resounding success and announced that bilateral and trilateral summits involving Zelensky would soon follow.
Zelensky said he was ready to meet with Putin and hold peace talks with Russia without conditions. The AFP then reported that Putin told Trump he was willing to meet Zelensky.
Despite this, the Kremlin made no public comments in support of such a meeting.
Zelensky told reporters on Aug. 20 that if Putin "is not ready" for a one-on-one meeting, Kyiv expects the U.S. to respond with tougher measures.
"We are ready for the bilateral meeting. If the Russians are not, then we would like to see a strong response from the United States," Zelensky said, adding that he asked Trump to impose additional sanctions on Moscow if it rejects talks with Ukraine.
Russia continues to press for maximalist demands in Ukraine, including the concession of currently unoccupied Ukrainian lands, while intensifying aerial attacks on civilian targets and scaling up its offensives in front-line regions.
