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A summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could take place only to finalize agreements on ending the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.
Peskov was responding to media reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed such a meeting during a visit to Moscow last week.
He told Russian broadcaster VGTRK that the possibility of a trilateral summit had been discussed for some time, but said a meeting simply to negotiate the details of a potential settlement would be “absolutely useless.”
“Agreements are not a primitive deal. It is a complex settlement process consisting of a huge number of details,” Peskov said.
Peskov said any meeting between Putin, Trump and Zelenskyy should come only after substantial work on a settlement had already been completed.
He argued that the purpose of such a summit should be “finalizing the agreements,” rather than working through the details of a possible deal.
The Kremlin has previously said a trilateral meeting would require significant preparatory work and should follow progress in negotiations.
Peskov also accused Kyiv of being unwilling to engage in what he described as “real settlement” efforts.
U.S. media outlet Axios earlier reported that Ratcliffe discussed the possibility of a Putin-Trump-Zelenskyy meeting during his Moscow visit.
Separately, Peskov said Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would discuss Armenia’s planned referendum on its future relationship with the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.
The talks are expected during their visit to Bishkek from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1.
Peskov said Putin would use the meeting to reiterate Moscow’s arguments on the issue.
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