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Putin insists on face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy without Trump - Politico

Putin insists on face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy without Trump - Politico Russian President Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin insists on a personal meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He rejects the participation of US leader Donald Trump in the talks, reports Politico.

According to a White House official, when Trump called to offer his presence at the meeting between Zelenskyy and the Russian president, Putin said: "You don't have to come. I want to see him one on one."

According to the publication's source, Trump's team has already "started working on this." The preparation of the meeting is being handled by US President's special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin

On August 15 in Alaska, a meeting took place between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On August 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Washington, where he held talks with Trump and European leaders at the White House.

After the talks, Trump called Putin to arrange a new round of negotiations at the level of heads of state.

Moscow advocated for a bilateral format of negotiations. At the same time, a trilateral summit with the participation of the leaders of Ukraine, the US, and Russia may also take place later.

Among the possible locations for the meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin are Geneva or Hungary. Switzerland has already declared its readiness to host the talks and to provide Putin with immunity from the ICC warrant.

Also, according to media reports, Putin proposed to Zelenskyy to hold the meeting in Moscow, but the Ukrainian president refused.

At the same time, according to Trump, the meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin may take place in the coming weeks.