Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and former U.S. President Donald Trump are discussing a possible summit meeting to end the war.
Such a meeting would represent a critical attempt to establish a diplomatic pathway to peace through direct negotiation between the primary combatants and a key U.S. mediator.
Donald Trump said he has begun arranging a face-to-face meeting between the leaders [3]. He said the summit would help secure a pathway to end the war and provide security guarantees [3].
The Kremlin said significant agreements must be reached before a summit can occur [1]. Vladimir Putin said he is willing to meet with Zelenskyy if the Ukrainian leader travels to Moscow [1].
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed opposition to certain terms of the proposed peace process. He rejects the idea of swapping land with Russia and says Kyiv must be part of any talks [2].
These divergent positions highlight the difficulty of organizing a tripartite summit. While Trump continues planning for the encounter, the Russian and Ukrainian leaders remain divided on the location and the preliminary terms of the negotiation [1], [2], [3].
Zelenskyy previously arrived at the White House for talks with Trump and European leaders on Aug. 18, 2025 [3]. Those discussions focused on the ongoing conflict and the role of international support in securing a stable peace.
“Trump said he has begun arranging a face-to-face meeting between the leaders.”
The friction between the Kremlin's demand for a Moscow-based meeting and Zelenskyy's insistence on Kyiv's sovereignty indicates that the logistics of the summit are as contentious as the peace terms themselves. The proposal for land swaps suggests a potential shift in U.S.-led mediation toward territorial compromise, a move that currently lacks Ukrainian support.
