Kanyshai Butun
16 June 2026•Update: 16 June 2026
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump have not discussed the possibility of organizing a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the US, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Tuesday.
According to Russia's state news agency Tass, Ushakov said Moscow had received no proposals regarding such a meeting.
His remarks came after Zelenskyy said on Monday that he and Trump had discussed the possibility of holding talks in the US "in a format where Putin would find it much harder to refuse."
"We will see what comes of it. If Russia refuses this chance as well, additional pressure will be needed," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy also said Kyiv had discussed with the US and France the possibility of holding talks with Russia on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, but claimed that Putin was unwilling to participate.
"We offered Putin to meet anywhere where real decisions to end the war could be made. He does not want it," Zelenskyy said.
Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had not received an invitation to the G7 Summit for a meeting with Zelenskyy.
"Of course not. And as you know, there are no official channels between Moscow and Kyiv," Peskov said.
"You know that Putin told Zelenskyy everything and made all the proposals. It was said and repeated several times that if Zelenskyy is ready to talk responsibly and seriously — and the Kyiv regime knows perfectly well what this is about — then he can always come to Moscow, where he will be received," he added.
