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Kremlin leader Putin has set high hurdles before a meeting with the Ukrainian Zelenskyi.
Image: dpa (Archivbild)
Ukraine and Russia are a long way from an end to the war. One of many reasons: The Kremlin leader does not take the younger head of state in Kiev seriously. Answers to the most important questions.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi are to meet within two weeks - that was the hopeful message from US President Donald Trump after his top-level meetings in Alaska and Washington. But the world only knows that Putin is allegedly ready for such a meeting from Trump's words.
Zelensky has long been calling for a meeting with Putin to put an end to his three-and-a-half-year war of aggression against Ukraine. However, the Kremlin leader would have to jump over his shadow, as he is setting high hurdles for a meeting. Questions and answers on a difficult relationship:
It doesn't exist. Intelligence officer Vladimir Putin (72) has ruled his vast empire in an increasingly authoritarian manner for a quarter of a century. He sees the collapse of the Soviet Union as a slight and has a score to settle with the West. He wants to make Russia the dominant power on the European continent, and an independent Ukraine is a nuisance.
Selensky (47) was a successful comedian and television producer before entering politics in 2019. His record in government was mixed. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, he refused to flee and became the face of Ukrainian resistance worldwide.
Yes, and it didn't go well. It was in Paris in 2019, and Zelensky had been elected shortly before because of his promise to find an understanding with Moscow. French President Emmanuel Macron and the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel were also at the table.
This so-called Normandy Quartet was supposed to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which had been fueled by Russia since 2014. But Putin let the Ukrainians run aground and made no concessions.
Since the war began, Putin and the Moscow leadership have painted Zelensky in the darkest colors. Putin called him a "toxic figure". Nazis ruled Ukraine, the Kremlin said, even though Zelenskyi is of Jewish origin. The Ukrainian president was denigrated as a drug addict, a will-less puppet of the West.
Although Putin himself is only in power with the help of non-free elections, Moscow is questioning Zelensky's legitimacy: his term of office expires in 2024. Ukrainian laws prohibit elections during a war. For his part, Zelensky has repeatedly accused Putin of terrorism and has even called him a complete idiot.
Russia's propaganda with its powerful television would therefore have a hard time convincing the public to turn around. Putin would have to explain why he is "sitting down with a president he thinks is a joke, from a country that doesn't exist." Ukrainian political scientist Oryisa Lutsevich from the British think tank Chatham House told the US broadcaster CNN.
The Kremlin leader sees himself on the road to victory. His troops are advancing in eastern Ukraine. He is confident that his country can mobilize enough men and material - unlike the smaller Ukraine. Moscow therefore expects that Putin will only have to meet with Zelensky or another representative from Kiev if Ukraine surrenders.
On the other hand, the Russian advance is being bought with high losses. Russian mobilization figures are also falling. In the Black Sea, Ukraine is keeping the Russian fleet at bay. Ukraine's increasing number of drone strikes on refineries, energy plants and railroad lines in the Russian hinterland are a source of annoyance for Putin.
A meeting with Zelensky is not directly rejected, but is being put off for as long as possible. Moscow is open to any format for talks, said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "But all contacts involving the heads of state must be prepared extremely carefully."
In Moscow's view, lower-level delegations must first negotiate an agreement. Only then will the heads of state themselves step up to the plate and sign the pre-negotiated agreement. Little progress has been made so far in the bilateral negotiations between Kiev and Moscow, which have been ongoing since May. Several prisoner exchanges have been agreed. However, the two sides are far apart when it comes to the conditions for a ceasefire or even a final peace.
According to Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, it was discussed between Trump and Putin that the previous direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev should be conducted at a higher level than before. But even he did not speak of a meeting between the presidents.
After all, the request for a meeting came from Trump, with whom Putin does not want to mess things up. The Kremlin leader wants to continue talking to the USA about strategic issues - that could influence his calculations.
But expectations are low everywhere. "I can hardly imagine that Zelensky, Putin and others will sit around a table and talk about anything at all, let alone come to an agreement," said the former Ukrainian ambassador to Moscow, Volodymyr Yelchenko, to "Ukrajinska Pravda".
"To be clear: Putin will not meet with Zelensky under the current circumstances," wrote exiled Russian political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya in Network X. "He has said several times that such a meeting is only possible once the right foundations have been laid, which in practice means that Zelensky accepts Russia's conditions for an end to the war."
Given the uncertain prospect of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, the choice of location is also difficult. Switzerland would be willing, but Moscow rejects the Vatican. Russia and Ukraine would probably prefer to meet in Turkey or Saudi Arabia, as they did recently.
Following initial talks between Putin and Selensky, Trump is also prepared to hold a quick meeting between the three of them. His Secret Service is said to already be making preparations for this in the Hungarian capital Budapest, as reported by the website "Politico". This has not been confirmed. Because Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is blocking Ukraine's rapprochement with the EU, Budapest is unlikely to be a neutral location for Zelensky.
20.08.2025, 23:01
20.08.2025, 23:07
