US President Donald Trump told reporters on October 28 that a meeting between the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will be set up “very soon.”
Trump didn’t specify a specific date or venue for the potential meeting but did add that “a lot of progress could be made.”
A G20 summit that Trump is hosting in Florida in December presents a potential opportunity for a face-to-face meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders, but Putin has yet to respond to a US invitation and he and Zelenskyy have differed starkly on the prospects for such a meeting.
Putin has sought to cast doubt on Zelenskyy’s legitimacy and has repeatedly said the presidents could only meet when a comprehensive peace deal has been agreed, though he has also suggested he and Zelenskyy could meet in Moscow.
The Kremlin knows that the prospect of a meeting in the capital of the country that is attacking Ukraine is unacceptable to Kyiv. Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to meet with Putin in a third country, and has said crucial issues such as territory can only be decided at the leadership level.
It was previously announced that trilateral technical-level talks were planned for the first half of November in the United Arab Emirates.
The American president’s comments come just a day after the Finnish President Alexander Stubb and the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store held a 90-minute-phone call with Putin to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Nordic leaders also spoke to Zelenskyy over the phone.
In a press statement, Stubb noted that “the discussion was frank and substantive.”
“We are neighboring countries to Russia. The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions,” the Finnish president added.
Store had hosted Zelenskyy, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, and several European officials in Oslo on October 20 in an effort to ensure European countries have a role in negotiations to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The flurry of Western diplomatic activity comes as Vladimir Putin earlier in October proposed a three-way summit with the United States and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, toward the end of the year to conclude the war.
Trump said on October 19 that he was open to meeting Putin and Xi on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in China in November, although he suggested the main focus would be nuclear disarmament rather than Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently confirmed that discussions about a possible meeting had taken place but said arrangements had not been finalized.
The prospect of talks on Ukraine without Kyiv’s participation has raised concerns, with Ukrainian officials insisting that their country must have a seat at the negotiating table.
Oleshky Cease-Fire Holds
Meanwhile both Ukraine and Russia confirmed that there had been no breaches of the US-negotiated local cease-fire around the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine in its first 30 hours.
The start of the cease-fire, brokered by US first lady Melania Trump, began at 3 a.m. local time on October 27, two days ahead of schedule “to protect the safety of civilians and to facilitate the delivery of critical humanitarian aid,” she said in a post on X adding that the cease-fire’s geographic area “has expanded beyond Oleshky, within the Kherson region, to provide safe passage for the humanitarian convoys.”
The cease-fire will remain in effect until November 1 to allow residents to evacuate the frontline town, where deteriorating conditions had left many unable to flee.
