Russian Foreign Minister Says There Will Be No Putin–Zelensky Meeting

Russia’s Foreign Minister said that there were no plans for a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump’s peace efforts, Rebecca Schneid reported for Time.

The last and only time Zelensky and Putin met in person was in 2019. (Photo: Пресс-служба Президента Российской Федерации)

“Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all,” Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press.

A meeting between Zelensky and Putin had been a key aim of Trump’s following his talks with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, which were intended to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

Trump said afterward that the US had “begun arrangements” for a face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the warring nations.

“After that meeting takes place, we will have a trilateral, which would be the two presidents plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a war that has been going on for almost four years,” he posted on Truth Social.

Lavrov’s comments suggest Trump miscalculated the momentum of peace talks between the two nations. Lavrov added that Russia desires peace, despite Moscow launching some of its largest strikes against Ukraine on Thursday.

“We want peace in Ukraine. President Trump wants peace in Ukraine,” Lavrov said.

“The reaction to the Anchorage meeting, the gathering in Washington of these European representatives and what they were doing after Washington, indicates that they don’t want peace.”

Trump and Putin did not reach a peace deal during their meeting. Trump had originally set an August 8 deadline for Putin to end the war in Ukraine or face heavy sanctions.

On Friday, Trump said he would give Russia “a couple of weeks” before imposing consequences, consistent with critics’ description of him as “TACO” (Trump Always Chickens Out).