Russia-Ukraine conflict: Peace on the table? Putin, Zelensky signal willingness to start direct talks after Trump meet

Soon after his meeting with President Donald Trump, Zelensky said on Monday he would be willing to meet directly with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of his country.

“I confirmed — and all European leaders supported me — that we are ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin,” Zelensky told Ukrainian media outside the White House.

Zelenskyy said “we are ready” for any leader-level meetings. He said it’s the only way to solve these “complicated and painful issues.”

Meanwhile, Putin said he was open to the “idea” of direct talks with Ukraine, as he spoke by phone with US counterpart Donald Trump on Monday, according to the TASS news agency.

“Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump expressed support for the continuation of direct negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said, as quoted by TASS.

“In this regard, in particular, the idea was discussed that it would be necessary to study the possibility of raising the level of representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian sides, that is, those representatives who participate in the aforementioned direct negotiations.”

Following White House talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders, Trump announced that he called Putin and “began the arrangements” for a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.

However no dates for the meeting has been set up yet. 

Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders met at the White House earlier Monday for hastily assembled multilateral talks, which came after Trump met with Putin on Aug 15 and shut the other leaders out. European political leaders joined discussions as they pursue means to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow.