Ukraine is aggressively pushing for a face-to-face summit between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, viewing their direct encounter as the only way to break a diplomatic deadlock that has paralysed US-led peace efforts in the four-year-long hostilities.
Kyiv has reached out to the NATO member Turkiye to help facilitate top-level talks, sources told The Associated Press. It has also approached other capitals as potential hosts. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has said that Kyiv has reached out to Turkiye as a primary facilitator and would consider any venue outside Russia and its steadfast ally, Belarus, for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.
We are advocating for a [summit] meeting now to bring new momentum to diplomacy," Sybiha told reporters on Tuesday, according to AP.
The proposal, confirmed by Sybiha on Wednesday, comes as Washington's diplomatic bandwidth is consumed by the expanding conflict with Iran in the Middle East, leaving the Ukraine-Russia mediation on ice.
A “Jolt” to US Diplomacy
After three rounds of trilateral talks in Geneva and the UAE earlier this year, negotiations between the Russian and the Ukrainian delegation, headed by the United States envoy Steve Witkoff and US President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, have plateaued.
While President Zelenskyy previously indicated a peace deal was “90% ready” following discussions with Trump in late 2025, the remaining 10%, primarily involving territorial sovereignty in the contentious eastern Donbas region, has proven insurmountable for mid-level delegations.
Kushner and Witkoff visited the Russian capital, Moscow, late last year as ceasefire talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine gained pace. The last visit was made recently in January. Witkoff has visited Moscow eight times and has met with Russian President Putin. Ukraine’s President Zelensky appeared to berate the pair for their frequent trip to Moscow but never to Kyiv as “disrespectful”.
In an interview with a Ukrainian outlet, Zelensky stated, “It’s disrespectful [for Witkoff and Kushner] to come to Moscow and not Kyiv, it’s just disrespectful.” He added, “I understand we have complex logistics… If they don’t want to, we can meet in other countries.”
Kyiv’s Breakaway From The “Trump Plan”
The urgency for the summit is driven by a widening gap between the “Trump Plan” and the realities on the ground. Kyiv, on several occasions, questioned the US proposal for peace talks that were widely inclined on Ukrainian concessions, such as freezing of the current front lines, the establishment of a free economic zone in the remaining Ukrainian-held parts of Donbas, and a moratorium on Ukraine's NATO membership.
While Zelenskyy has accepted the US demand for an unconditional ceasefire, he has hit a “red line” regarding Russia's demand for a total Ukrainian withdrawal from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
”Ukraine will never accept any formula at the cost of our territorial integrity,” Sybiha emphasised. “It is not possible for us to withdraw from Donbas as the Russian side demands.”
Putin's War of Attrition
Moscow has remained cool toward the prospect of a summit. Analysts suggest that Vladimir Putin believes time is his greatest ally, betting that Western financial and military support will eventually buckle under the weight of domestic pressures, specifically the upcoming US midterm elections.
Currently, Russia is maintaining pressure on the 1,250-kilometre front line and informing US envoys that they intend to capture the remainder of the Donbas within two months. This “ultimatum” has stalled the trilateral logic, as Moscow appears more interested in creating facts on the ground than signing a compromise in Istanbul or Geneva.
The Middle East Shadow
A significant factor in the diplomatic stagnation is the US’s shift of attention to the Middle East. The recent escalations involving Iran have diverted the focus of key US mediators, including special envoys Kushner and Witkoff. Witkoff and Kushner are participating as the US negotiating team in the ceasefire talks brokered by Pakistan. Zelensky acknowledged that the attention of the US has pivoted from Ukraine to the Middle East.
By calling for a direct summit, Zelensky is attempting to force the Russo-Ukrainian conflict back to the top of the international agenda, hoping that a leader-to-leader meeting can bypass the “emotionality” of the current Russian position and return to a logic of de-escalation.