Trump speaks about the possibility of a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting

A high-level summit with the participation of Russia, the US, and Ukraine has been confirmed, however, it is not yet clear whether a separate face-to-face meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will take place. US President Donald Trump announced this in a statement to the Daily Caller.

According to Trump, a "trilateral meeting will take place." At the same time, he added that "I don't know about the bilateral [between Putin and Zelenskyy] meeting, but it will be trilateral." That is, the summit format - a general conversation with the participation of Washington, Moscow, and Kyiv - is included on the agenda, but the question of direct dialogue between the two leaders remains open.

As a reminder, Trump announced the start of preparations for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin after the summit in Alaska on August 15th. Later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov clarified the position and noted that Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy, but all topics to be discussed at the highest level must be carefully worked out in advance.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, in turn, expressed Kyiv's readiness for negotiations, openly stating that a trilateral format with Trump's participation is preferable for him - this, in his opinion, gives the process additional confidence and guarantees.

At the same time, German Chancellor Friedrich Mers gave instructions to the public on August 28 that a separate meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy would not take place. So far, in diplomatic "choreography," only the trilateral platform has been preserved as the main scenario.

In short, preparations are underway for the trilateral summit, but Putin-Zelenskyy's bilateral dialogue has not been concluded: Trump says "we will hold it," Lavrov emphasizes "let's prepare it substantively," Zelenskyy "chooses a trilateral format," and Meers states that "there will be no bilateral meeting yet." This balance in the field of dialogue is expected to be determined in the coming days.