Kremlin spokesperson says 'no need' for Trump-Putin meeting

There is "no need" for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Nov. 2.

"Hypothetically speaking, (a meeting) is possible, but at this point there is no need for it," Peskov told the Russian state news agency TASS. "There is a need for very painstaking work on the details of the (peace) settlement issue."

When Putin called Trump on Oct. 16, the U.S. leader said that he would meet Putin in Budapest and talked about "progress" being allegedly made in peace talks.

However, the plans for a Putin-Trump meeting were shelved on Oct. 21, with the U.S. president saying that he did not want a "wasted meeting" with Putin. He said that a key problem was Moscow's refusal to cease fighting along the current front line.

Trump went even further on Oct. 22, when he imposed sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.

On Oct. 23, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said a Trump–Putin summit remained "not completely off the table."

Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev claimed on Oct. 24 that Russia and Ukraine were close to reaching a deal to end the war with U.S. mediation.

The claim contradicts Moscow's actual stance, as Russia continues to reject any compromise and insists on its maximalist demands, including Ukraine's surrender of the entire Donetsk Oblast as a precondition for peace.

Trump also said on Oct. 25 that he did not plan to meet Putin unless he saw a clear path to a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

"We're going to have to know that we're going to make a deal," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I've always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing."

These people just escaped Russian-occupied Ukraine — but some say they need to go back

Editor’s note: The names of those coming from Russian-occupied territories have been changed for security reasons. On the Ukraine-Belarus border, the wind cuts to the bone. Olena, a retiree from the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, has just crossed the Volyn humanitarian corridor after nearly four years of living in fear. Dressed in the thickest, warmest overcoat she owns, Olena is still shivering from the cold. Yet she still vividly recalls the summer heat and drought in her nati

The Kyiv IndependentYuliia Taradiuk