Zelensky says he is ready to meet Putin at G20 summit in Miami

Editor's Note: Read Russia's response to Zelensky's statement here.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is prepared to travel to the G20 summit and meet Vladimir Putin there if the Russian leader attends, he told Deutsche Welle in an interview published on Sept. 12.

The G20 leaders' summit is scheduled to take place in Miami in December.

"Yes, of course. We have to come. We have to meet, to speak and make decisions," Zelensky told DW.

"It's not about words. What I will tell him or what he wants to tell me, it doesn't matter," Zelensky added. "Results matter. That's it."

Zelensky and Putin have not met in person since before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Moscow had not yet discussed whether Putin would attend the G20 summit, he told the pro-Kremlin outlet Izvestia on Sept. 12.

"As for the possibility of Putin's trip, this issue has not even been discussed yet," Ushakov said, adding that preparations for the summit were continuing at the expert level.

Putin has not personally attended a G20 leaders' summit since 2019, according to DW.

Later on Sept. 12, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that Zelensky should come to Moscow if he wishes to meet directly with Putin.

Zelensky's comments come amid renewed U.S.-led efforts to bring Kyiv and Moscow back to negotiations. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Kyiv earlier in September after talks in Moscow.

Zelensky told DW that Ukraine was now in a "good position for negotiations," arguing that Russia continues to suffer heavy battlefield losses for relatively limited territorial gains.

He also said Kyiv had discussed a possible energy and grain ceasefire with the U.S. envoys as a potential first step toward broader negotiations.

"What can bring us to any kind of negotiations? So energy and grain. This is step number one. What we can achieve," Zelensky said.

The latest U.S. diplomatic push has so far failed to produce a breakthrough. People familiar with the negotiations told the Kyiv Independent that Moscow remained unwilling to make meaningful concessions, despite revised U.S. proposals aimed at reviving talks. Zelensky said after the Kyiv meeting that he expected the war to continue into the winter.

The Kremlin has said it does not rule out renewed trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S., though no date or venue has been agreed.