Ukraine rejects Putin's Moscow meeting offer, cites "unacceptable" terms
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha has described a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a Moscow meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "unacceptable."
The offer was rejected as the meeting had been requested by Mr Zelenskyy.
"At least seven countries are willing to host a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders to end the war," Mr Sybiha wrote on X. He added that Austria, the Vatican, Switzerland, Turkey and three Gulf nations have offered to be hosts.
Right now, at least seven countries are ready to host a meeting between leaders of Ukraine and Russia to bring an end to the war. Austria, the Holy See, Switzerland, Türkiye, and three Gulf states.
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) September 3, 2025
These are serious proposals and President Zelenskyy is ready for such a meeting… pic.twitter.com/b19VquSEFU
Mr Sybiha described the locations as "serious options" and reaffirmed that Mr Zelenskyy was ready to meet Mr Putin at any of them.
"However, Mr Putin is continuing to mislead everyone by making proposals he knows are unacceptable," Mr Sybiha charged. He believes only increased international pressure on Russia will make the Russian leader take the peace process seriously. The process is being advanced by US President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a press conference in China, Mr Putin said he was always open to a meeting with Mr Zelenskyy. He confirmed that Mr Trump had also requested one, but said any such meeting would have to be well-prepared to yield results. This has been a long-standing position of Moscow.
"I have never ruled out such a meeting. But does it make sense? We will see! If Mr Zelenskyy is ready, he can come to Moscow and the meeting will take place," the Kremlin leader said, according to the Agerpres news agency.
A series of high-level meetings initiated by Mr Trump after his 15 August summit with Mr Putin in Alaska has failed to produce a clear path to ending the war. This is because Russia is primarily focused on territorial issues, while Kyiv and its European allies are concerned with security guarantees for Ukraine.
Mr Zelenskyy rejects any territorial concessions to Russia. For its part, Russia rejects any deployment of Nato troops as a security guarantee for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kyiv's European allies continue to offer their full support if the war continues. They are also pushing for peacekeeping troops to be deployed in Ukraine, despite Russia's opposition.
Russia has accused the Ukrainian president of rejecting all compromise proposals, stating that conditions for a Putin-Zelenskyy summit do not exist. A meeting has been requested by Mr Zelenskyy, Mr Trump and Ukraine's European supporters.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
