On September 12, Russian President's press secretary Dmitry Peskov publicly rejected Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal to meet with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Miami, calling such a format "impossible." In a conversation with journalists, the Kremlin's official spokesperson confirmed Moscow's unchanged position: any possible meeting between the two leaders could take place exclusively in Moscow. Thus, Russia has effectively closed the door to negotiations on a neutral or American venue, while retaining the right to determine the location and conditions of any contact.
Kyiv's Proposal and Its Motives
Earlier the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed his readiness to meet with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in the United States at the end of the current year, provided that both leaders receive an invitation. In his words, both sides need to meet, enter into dialogue, and make decisions aimed at achieving concrete results. The initiative came against the backdrop of active efforts by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to resume the negotiation process for settling the protracted Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Diplomatic Context Surrounding the Initiative
The context for discussing the meeting is being shaped on several levels. Last week, American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv. Speaking via video link at the Yalta European Strategy Forum in Kyiv, Jared Kushner stated that he hopes to announce the "next steps" in the negotiation process in the coming weeks. In addition, earlier this week the Russian and American leaders held a one-hour phone call to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, which the Kremlin described as "candid and constructive."
The G20 summit, currently chaired by the United States, is scheduled for December 14–15 in Miami. The bloc brings together 19 countries along with the European Union and the African Union. Meanwhile, Russian Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov noted that it is still unclear whether Vladimir Putin will attend the summit, which further complicates the scenario of a possible bilateral meeting on its sidelines.
Contradictory Data
The statements by the parties on the key issue—the location of a possible meeting—differ. Kyiv, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, favors holding the contact at the G20 summit venue in Miami in December, viewing American territory as acceptable for dialogue. Moscow, through Dmitry Peskov, directly rejects this option as "impossible" and insists that a meeting is possible only in Moscow. Thus, the difference in versions concerns not the facts but the diplomatic positions: one side proposes a neutral/American venue, the other—an exclusively Russian one. Until this condition is agreed upon, the question of the meeting itself remains open.
