Kremlin: Putin Open to Zelenskyy Meeting

The Kremlin has said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is open to a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky after preparatory work is done at the expert level,

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, as per Kyiv Post.

The development has come at a time when Putin is under pressure from US President Donald Trump to agree to a ceasefire in his war on Ukraine and negotiate the end of the war. So far, Trump has floated at least three ceasefire proposals. While Ukraine has accepted all of them, Putin has rejected all of them.

For weeks, Zelenskyy has been calling for a direct meeting with Putin in the presence of Trump to negotiate an end to the war. Putin has so far shot down

such proposals as sitting across from Zelenskyy would legitimise him as the Ukraine's leader and undo a major basis of his war. For context, Putin has rejected Ukraine as an independent, sovereign nation and therefore does not consider Zelenskyy as a legitimate head of the state.

After aligning himself with Putin for months and endorsing his positions regarding Ukraine, Trump appears to have become frustrated with Putin's refusal to make peace and consistently refusing his direct pleas to end attacks on civilians. Late last month, he

reduced the 50-day ultimatum to Putin to 10-12 days that ends this week. It remains to be seen what action he would take if Putin would defy the deadline.

Around the time of the end of the deadline, Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff will arrive in Russia for talks.

The Kremlin on Monday said that Witkoff would likely hold talks with Putin. It further called for responsible rhetoric around nuclear weapons.

"Russia is very attentive to the topic of nuclear non-proliferation. And we believe that everyone should be very,

very cautious with nuclear rhetoric," said Peskov.

The comment came days after Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines around Russian waters after Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who now serves as Putin's attack dog, threatened the United States with a war over the deadline for a ceasefire.