Kremlin plays down Zelensky talks as Trump warns Putin may not want ‘to make deal’

The Kremlin talked about a close summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, because Donald Trump renewed the two leaders to discuss the end of the war in Ukraine.

The pressure for a dual meeting came after the US President met Putin in Alaska last week and welcomed seven European leaders and Zelensky to the White House on Monday.

Trump admitted that the conflict was a “difficult” for the resolution of the conflict, and admitted that the Russian President was not interested in ending hostility.

“We will learn about President Putin in the next few weeks.” He said. “It is possible to make an agreement.”

Putin faced a “rude situation”, Trump added without any details.

On Monday, Russian President Trump told the idea of direct negotiations with Ukraine, but the next day, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov diluted this uncertain commitment.

Any meeting must be prepared to “slowly … starting from the expert level and passing through all the necessary steps”.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, the Russian representative of the UN, to the BBC “Nobody [had] “The opportunity for direct talks” rejected, but this should not be a meeting for the sake of a meeting “.

On Tuesday, Putin said that Zelensky could go to Moscow for talks to Trump, and Ukraine would never accept.

The proposal could have been a way to put forward an option of Russia so far, Kyiv could not accept it.

His interviews for the last few days seem to have given Trump a renewed understanding between the complexities of the war and the cliff between the demands of Moscow and the position of Kiev.

He said Putin said he could not accept, and now US President Ukraine and Russia should go to a direct permanent peace agreement – but some headings were made for Ukraine for security guarantees.

Zelensky and European leaders seem to have been convinced that such commitments to Trump will be very important for Kiev’s sovereignty if a peace agreement.

Although Trump deployed US troops, Trump said that the US is willing to “through the air” if they give boots on the ground in Ukraine in case of a cease -fire agreement.

However, the US president did not enter the features of whether such air support would require intelligence or war jets and warplanes.

Trump’s commitments remained uncertain, while the coalition led by France and the UK, he said he was working to make plans for a guarantee that could be sent to Ukraine if the hostility ends.

After a virtual meeting of the group on Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesman said that the group would meet the US colleagues to “further strengthen their plans to offer solid security guarantees” in the coming days.

Following his summit with Putin and Zelensky, Trump thinks that direct meetings between Ukraine and Russia could bring a peace agreement – but he acknowledged that there was “enormous bad blood” between the two leaders.

The last time they met was in 2019. Since then, Moscow’s war on Kiev has resulted in widespread destruction and ongoing air strikes on tens of thousands of losses and civilian targets.

Putin thinks that Zelensky is illegitimate and sees him responsible for the increasing proximity of Ukraine to the West. For years, he made unfounded claims that Kiev was ruled by a “Neo-Nazi regime”, and he said he should make a change under the leadership of Ukraine and any ceasefire Kyiv.

Russia has little interest in accepting negotiations when the troops have upper hand on the front.

Nevertheless, European leaders and Zelensky talked in favor of the idea of a dual meeting. The Ukrainian President said on Monday that meeting with Putin was open to “any format”, and Europeans have put forward ideas for their potential peak positions.

They hoped to convince Trump to return to a harder stance against Moscow if Putin does not want to take steps to end the war by supporting direct talks with enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s European partners seem significantly less optimistic than Trump.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron called Putin “a predator and a gigantic at our door,” and expressed the “greatest suspicion” that the Russian President was willing to work for peace.

Finland President Alexander Stubb said Putin was “rarely trustworthy” and added that Zelensky was skeptical about a meeting.

As Trump’s support for Europe continues, higher -level negotiations are planned for the coming days.

British military chief Admiral Tony Radakin is expected to have a virtual meeting on Wednesday while traveling to Washington for discussions on the deployment of a guarantee in Ukraine.