Putin Calls Zelensky the West's Illegitimate Puppet. Can He Talk Peace With Him?

Trump seeks to broker a meeting of the two leaders to end Europe's most destructive war

- Thomas Grove & Matthew Luxmoore

Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, as urged by President Trump; he will come face-to-face with a man he has spent 3 years excoriating as an illegitimate leader and puppet.

Negotiating directly with Zelensky would run sharply counter to the narrative Putin has carefully constructed and sold to Russians in an effort to justify his 2022 invasion of Ukraine: that the war is part of a broader conflict with the West in which Zelensky and his country are mere pawns.

Trump's call for a meeting puts Putin in a bind. If he declines, he risks angering the U.S. president, who has already threatened him with more sanctions. But sitting down with Zelensky could damage him politically with the Russian elite and the broader public.

Trump said Tuesday that he was working to bring the two leaders together as the next phase in his efforts to forge a lasting peace in Ukraine, but he nodded to the challenge at hand.

"They haven't been exactly best friends," he said in an interview with Fox News, adding that Putin and Zelensky will have to iron out details of a possible meeting if they agree to one.

The question of Putin's willingness to meet his Ukrainian counterpart has taken center stage following a Trump-Putin summit in Alaska and discussions Monday at the White House between Trump, Zelensky and European leaders.

On Tuesday, Russian officials gave little indication they were working toward such a meeting. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said plans for any contacts between officials should be laid out "with the utmost care." Other Russian officials ridiculed Zelensky as an unserious politician.