Trump's proposed Ukraine summit in doubt after Putin's refusal to include Zelenskyy

Efforts to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin may be derailed by the Kremlin leader's refusal to meet Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a potential White House precondition to the high-stakes summit.

- Shaun Walker Kyiv Andrew Roth Washington

The mixed messaging yesterday over a potential summit between Putin and Trump - with White House and Kremlin officials sometimes contradicting each other about the leaders' demands and the status of the planning - suggested a chaotic new chapter in Trump's haphazard efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to the war in Ukraine.

Putin said he was not ready to meet Zelenskyy even as the Kremlin claimed preparations were under way for a set-piece bilateral summit with Trump next week.

"I have nothing against it in general. It is possible, but certain conditions must be created for this," Putin said of the meeting with Zelenskyy. "But, unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions."

After Putin met Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin on Wednesday, reports from Washington suggested the Russian president had agreed to meet Trump first and then Zelenskyy in a trilateral format.

But yesterday, a White House official told the New York Post Trump would meet Putin only if the Kremlin leader met Zelenskyy.

And while the Kremlin sounded enthused about the prospect of a summit, it has denied the topic of a meeting with Zelenskyy was raised.