Putin said he had always been open to meeting Mr. Zelenskyy but reiterated the Kremlin’s oft-repeated stance that such a meeting had to be well prepared in advance and lead to tangible results. File.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (September 3, 2025) that he was ready to hold talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy if the Ukrainian president came to Moscow, but said it remained to be seen whether such a meeting was worthwhile.
Mr. Zelenskyy has been pressing to meet Mr. Putin to discuss the terms of a possible deal and U.S. President Donald Trump — who has been trying to broker a peace settlement — has said he wants the two leaders to meet. However, the Kyiv government said Mr. Putin’s proposal is unacceptable. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that at least seven countries, including Austria, the Vatican, Switzerland and three Gulf states, were ready to host the meeting.
“These are serious proposals and President Zelenskyy is ready for such a meeting at any point in time,” he said on X. “Yet, Putin continues to mess around with everyone by making knowingly unacceptable proposals.”
Speaking in China at the end of a visit there, Mr. Putin said he had always been open to meeting Mr. Zelenskyy but reiterated the Kremlin’s oft-repeated stance that such a meeting had to be well prepared in advance and lead to tangible results.
“As for a meeting with Zelenskyy I have never ruled out the possibility of such a meeting. But is there any point? Let’s see,” said Putin.
The Russian leader said that in his view Ukraine needed to cancel martial law, hold elections, and hold a referendum about territorial questions if progress was to be made.
Russia claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian regions in 2022, a claim Kyiv and most Western countries rejected as an attempted illegal land grab backed by a colonial-style war of conquest.
Published – September 03, 2025 08:04 pm IST
