Russia dismisses likelihood of trilateral meeting between Trump, Putin, Zelensky in near future

The Kremlin on Tuesday appeared to dismiss the possibility of a trilateral meeting between President Donald Trump and his counterparts in Russia and Ukraine in the near future.

The comment occurred after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday indicated that the president was "open" to meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey, to discuss peace negotiations after the pair failed to make headway on their own.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the probability of the meeting was "unlikely" in the near future, but that Putin was prepared for the meeting should one be arranged. He also said the other leaders should come to the meeting prepared.

"Well, frankly speaking, [it is] unlikely in the near future," Peskov told reporters, per the Russian outlet TASS. 

He also noted that Putin has stated he is ready for top-level contacts, but stressed those contacts "should result from agreements developed at the technical level, at the expert level," Peskov said. "This is why President Putin welcomes the idea of contacts, though he believes they should be well-prepared."

Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul on Monday for the second round of peace negotiations. However, the meeting, in which they communicated in Russian, only lasted a little over an hour, TASS reported. Both sides also exchanged documents that laid out their terms and vision for a peace deal.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.