The Kremlin is seeking to avoid a face-to-face meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin by proposing that they speak by telephone instead, the Kyiv Independent has learned.
The apparent move comes as kyiv insists the two leaders should meet in person to address the most pressing issues in the negotiations, including Russia’s territorial claims and security guarantees. Such a meeting would be the first since 2019.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on October 30 that Putin was “open to dialogue with everyone.” Asked if the Russian leader would speak with Zelensky by telephone, Peskov added that “no one has called yet.”
The comments come as Ukraine prepares for negotiations with Russia and the United States in Abu Dhabi, which kyiv sees as a possible starting point for a meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
Ukrainian officials privately suspect that Moscow is trying to arrange a phone call that they say would go nowhere, while avoiding the prospect of a face-to-face meeting.
“They already tried to do it over the phone,” a senior Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.
Meeting or a call?
Kyiv has long called for a direct meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
The two leaders last met in person in Paris in December 2019 during the Normandy format talks brokered by France and Germany. They have not held direct talks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Since then, Ukraine has made several attempts to organize a meeting.
Zelensky invited Putin to Istanbul for talks on May 16, 2025, proposing a trilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump to advance peace efforts. Putin refused to attend and instead sent a delegation led by a low-level presidential aide, Vladimir Medinsky.
After meeting with Putin in Alaska in August 2025, the US president said he was working to arrange a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine.
Trump later said Putin was reluctant to meet Zelensky because “he doesn’t like him.”
Now, every time the Ukrainian side raises the idea of a leadership-level meeting, the Kremlin challenges the Ukrainian president to come to Moscow for this. Zelensky called on Putin to meet him in a neutral location.
kyiv continues to maintain that only direct talks between leaders can result in meaningful decisions on the most difficult issues. Ukrainian officials say Russian representatives sent to the negotiations do not have the authority to make such decisions.
“Territorial issues can only be discussed by the leaders of the warring countries, and only at their level,” Zelensky told reporters on October 27. “No one else has the power to do this.”
Territory remains one of the main obstacles to an agreement.
The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected a ceasefire and demanded that kyiv return parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts that Russian forces have failed to capture. The strategically important regions of eastern Ukraine remain at the heart of the negotiations.
Ukraine, on the other hand, has called for a ceasefire along the current front line.
Several people familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent that Washington supports the idea of a leaders’ meeting and that Trump could help arrange one.
The G20 summit in Miami in December could serve as a possible venue, the sources said. In this scenario, if Putin accepts Trump’s invitation, Zelensky could also travel there to meet the Russian leader.
Kyiv warns against sidestepping direct talks
As Ukraine pushes for a meeting, its officials say Moscow is trying to undermine the effort by offering alternatives that would not require Putin to meet with Zelensky.
A senior Ukrainian official questioned whether a phone call could resolve the issues at hand without U.S. involvement.
“Well, what do we want? To reach a final decision on key issues and security guarantees,” the official told the Kyiv Independent. “Is it possible to do this over the phone – and only over the phone – without the United States? No.”
“We need a trilateral format with the United States, as well as some involvement from the Europeans… But they say: ‘Well, go to Moscow’ or call us, but what is the point of a phone call?”
Ukrainian officials fear that Moscow’s insistence on a phone call could give it further reason to walk away from negotiations without making meaningful commitments. They argue that a meeting with third parties would better resolve disputes.
Ukraine, Russia and the United States plan to hold negotiations in Abu Dhabi in November, focusing on steps to de-escalate the war. Moscow has declared itself ready to resume negotiations with kyiv after a break of more than eight months.
Zelensky said the planned technical negotiations should aim to achieve concrete progress on de-escalation, including an energy and maritime ceasefire, prisoner exchanges and discussions on a possible trilateral meeting between the leaders.
“We hope for an outcome in the areas of energy and maritime, an exchange of prisoners and a discussion on the possible format of a trilateral meeting at the leadership level.”
Kyiv does not expect operational-level negotiations alone to end the war.
Ukrainian officials say Putin himself must participate in the process if the negotiations are to result in real decisions.
“Putin must come out of his bunker and participate in trilateral negotiations,” the senior Ukrainian official said. “And personally confirms that he is ending the war.”
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