In call with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin suggests Moscow Summit with Zelensky

At a White House summit on Monday that included leaders from Germany, France, Finland, Italy and the United Kingdom, Trump said the next step toward ending the conflict—now in its fourth year—would be a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested hosting a peace summit with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in Moscow, according to three people familiar with a phone call between Putin and US President Donald Trump, AFP reported.

The conversation took place as Trump held high-stakes talks in Washington on Monday with Zelensky and a group of European leaders who back Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s invasion, AFP said. One source told AFP that “Putin mentioned Moscow” during the call, but Zelensky rejected the idea.

A diplomatic contact cited by AFP said European leaders advised Trump that Putin’s proposal “did not seem like a good idea.”

At a White House summit on Monday that included leaders from Germany, France, Finland, Italy and the United Kingdom, Trump said the next step toward ending the conflict—now in its fourth year—would be a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky, AFP noted.

While Zelensky has repeatedly signaled in recent weeks that he is ready to negotiate directly with the Russian president, the war has already killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, AFP reported.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian state media, as cited by AFP, that Putin had conveyed to Trump his openness to the “idea” of talks with Zelensky. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added Tuesday that such a meeting would require careful preparation.

AFP also reported that Switzerland had earlier offered to grant Putin immunity if he traveled there for peace negotiations, despite an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

Last week, Trump met Putin in Alaska, marking a break from years of Western efforts to isolate the Russian leader, AFP said. The US president, however, left the meeting without securing any concrete commitments on peace.