US President Donald Trump has recently stated that a trilateral meeting involving Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to take place. This announcement comes after Trump had previously indicated that a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Zelensky should occur first before any trilateral talks. The Kremlin has not confirmed the possibility of a bilateral meeting but has emphasized that any progress on peace talks should be made before such a gathering. Trump has expressed his confidence in the meeting taking place, while Russian officials have stated that the preparatory discussions are not currently very active.
In an interview with the Daily Caller on Friday, Trump was asked whether the trilateral meeting is still planned. He responded by stating, “A tri would happen. A bi, I don’t know about, but a tri will happen. But, you know, sometimes people aren’t ready for it.” According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, while Russia is still interested in direct talks with Ukraine, preparation for such a meeting is not “very active.”
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, while Russia is still interested in direct talks with Ukraine, preparation for such a meeting is not “very active.” Moscow has already agreed to “show some flexibility” on a number of points that Putin and Trump discussed in Alaska, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News last week. However, the US president later presented his proposals at a follow-up meeting with the Ukrainian leader and his European NATO backers, but “Zelensky said no to everything,” Lavrov said.
The reaction of Kiev’s Western sponsors at the talks “indicates that they don’t want peace,” the top diplomat said. European NATO leaders have increasingly pushed for “security guarantees” for Ukraine in the form of Western “peacekeepers” or “reassurance forces” – something Moscow has stressed it would never accept, warning of potential uncontrolled escalation. Moscow has condemned the EU’s recent militarization and longstanding military support for Ukraine. It has consistently described the Ukraine conflict as a proxy war waged by the West and maintained that any settlement must address Russia’s security concerns and the root causes of the crisis, including NATO’s continued eastward expansion.