Putin may NEVER meet Zelensky - and THIS is the reason

After Donald Trump's two high-profile meetings with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, the solution to the war is yet to be found. After meeting Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, Trump announced that he is working on arranging a bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The exact date has yet to be determined. The exact location has yet to come. But during this phase, the prime question is still there: Will Putin meet Zelensky? Well, the analysis says Putin is unlikely to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, not right now, and not later on. And there are some prominent reasons for it. Let's find out.

Trump's announcement

Just after his meeting with Zelensky, Trump took to Truth Social and said he had a call with the Russian president. Although it was reported that Trump paused his meeting with the Ukrainian president to call Putin but Trump claimed it was at the end of the meeting.

"I had a very good meeting with distinguished guests, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron ... in the White House, which ended in a further meeting in the Oval Office. During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America. Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine," Trump wrote on his Truth Social.

"At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself," the American president said.

'Must be prepared with the utmost care'

After this,Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took a more conciliatory tone in a state TV interview on Tuesday (August 19), saying, “We do not refuse any forms of work – neither bilateral nor trilateral." He added, “Any contacts involving top officials must be prepared with the utmost care.”

This was a subtle way to indicate that Russia is not going to agree on this. And this was naturally expected.

What do experts say?

Putin began this war with Ukraine by unilaterally announcing a chunk of Ukrainian land as independent. He has argued Ukraine is “an inalienable part of (Russia’s) own history, culture and spiritual space,” and its separation from Russia is a historical mistake.

Hence, if the meeting between the Russian and Ukraineian presidents takes place, Putin will have to "accept the failure of sitting down with a president he considers a joke from a country that doesn’t exist” - as Orysia Lutsevich, the director of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia program, said.

She also told CNN that the meeting would make it difficult for Putin to explain the change in tone to the Russians. “(Putin) so much brainwashed Russians on state television that Zelensky’s a Nazi, that (Ukraine’s) a puppet state of the West … that Zelensky’s illegitimate, why is he suddenly talking to him?” she said.

Moreover, Tatiana Stanovaya, senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and founder of R.Politik, said that Putin does not see a meeting with Zelensky as critical in a war. Rather, he would only agree to meeting his Ukrainian counterpart if he knew the meeting would be in his favour.

'I don't think you need a ceasefire'

Trump had previously said there would be "severe consequences" if Russia did not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine. But after his meeting with Zelensky, when he was asked if his ultimate goal remains unchanged, the American president does not think that a ceasefire is needed in the first place.

"I don’t think you need a ceasefire," Trump said. He says a ceasefire is “good to have,” but he could understand why one country might not want one. "We can work a peace deal while they’re fighting. They have to fight. I wish they could stop, I’d like them to stop, but strategically that could be a disadvantage for one side or the other," the American president said.