A Meeting That Isn’t Likely To Happen: Why Putin Won’t Sit Down With Zelensky – And Might Always Say No | World News

Washington: For a direct meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, hopes decided this week despite the signals of Washington that such a summit could be.

After a call between Putin and former US President Donald Trump, the Kremlin Aide Yur Ushakov told journalists that the two sides could think of “increasing the level of representatives in the future talks. He did not mention the leaders who offered any signs that Moscow was preparing for a face -to -face meeting.

Speaking on state television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow did not exclude talks in any format, but high -level contacts require “maximum care” in preparation.

The hesitation reflects Moscow’s wider attitude in the war. Russia recognized Donetsk and Luhansk independently in 2022, and Putin has repeatedly argued that Ukraine was historically and culturally inseparable from Russia. One step analysts, a meeting with Zelensky would force him to accept Ukraine’s independence.

Putin will have to accept the failure of sitting with a president he sees as a joke from a non -existent country. And such a movement can be difficult to justify the country.

On the state television, the Russians were brainwashed, Zelensky is a Nazi, that Ukraine is a puppet state of the West and so on.

Kremlin also questioned his duty by pointing to the postponed elections in accordance with Zelensky’s martial law. A recent Russian “Peace” proposal required Ukraine to choose before any agreement. Russian officials rarely use Zelensky’s name, instead, the “Kiev regime”.

When Zelensky went to Türkiye in May for direct talks, Putin stayed away and sent a delegation directed by only one historian.

Analysts say Putin has seen little benefit at a leading meeting unless Ukraine is ready to compromise. The basic demands of the Russian President are the Ceding region, which is under the control of Kiev. For now, Zelensky excluded these conditions.

Putin sees Trump as the center of any breakthrough. The US President is seen as a facilitator of the Russian settlement vision, and the United States must work with Kiev to be more flexible and open to Russian demands. Putin will not risk the optics of a unsuccessful summit with Zelensky.

Meanwhile, Trump said to supporters that he “started arrangements” for a Putin-Zelensky meeting. The next morning, the tone moved to Fox News. “I set up this with Putin and Zelensky, and you know, they have to call the shootings. We are 7,000 miles away,” he said.

Putin shows no signs of reconciliation. He provided a summit with Trump in Alaska, refrained from compromising on the ceasefire, and saw the pressure of sanctions fell. The Russian forces raised drone and missile strikes this week and launched 270 drones and 10 missiles on Monday night.

Putin still calculates the leverage with military pressure as a return. If the unanswered question in Washington and Moscow collapses again, who will blame?