Russia says no Putin-Zelenskyy summit planned, cites lack of agenda

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement comes almost a week after Putin's meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska to discuss measures to end the long-running Russia-Ukraine war

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday said no meeting has been scheduled between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stressing that such a summit would only take place once a clear agenda is prepared, NBC reported.

 

“Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all,” Lavrov told NBC.

 

In a separate statement, Lavrov noted several principles, including rejecting Nato membership for Ukraine and addressing territorial matters, have been propsed, but Zelenskyy “rejected them all.”

 

He said Russia had agreed to show flexibility on several proposals Trump raised in Alaska. “President Trump suggested, after Anchorage, several points which we share and on some of them, we agreed to show some flexibility,” he said.

 

 

Trump’s mediation efforts

 

Lavrov's statements come nearly a week after Putin’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska, where both leaders discussed possible measures to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Trump later also met Zelenskyy.

 

Following his meetings, Trump said he had begun efforts to arrange direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv, which would be followed by a trilateral summit involving the US president.

 

Zelenskyy accuses Russia of blocking talks

 

In Kyiv, Zelenskyy met Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss ways to enhance Ukraine’s security and accelerate efforts to end the war.

 

During a joint press conference, Zelenskyy said Russia was doing everything it could to prevent a meeting between him and Putin. He urged Ukraine’s allies to impose new sanctions on Moscow if it showed no willingness to end the invasion, Reuters reported.

 

Russia outlines new demands for peace 

According to Reuters, the Kremlin has now presented fresh conditions for peace. Moscow has demanded that Kyiv withdraw from the eastern Donbas region, abandon its Nato membership ambitions, maintain neutrality, and prevent Western troops from entering Ukraine.

 

The revised terms mark a partial retreat from Putin’s earlier demands in June 2024, when Russia sought control over four provinces — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. Kyiv had rejected those terms as a surrender. Under the latest proposal, Moscow is pressing only for Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donetsk and Luhansk, while offering to pause military operations in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where fighting continues.