Kremlin Says No Point in Trump-Zelensky-Putin Summit Without a Deal Already Signed

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Aug. 30 there is no reason to hold a summit between Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky unless the three leaders show up to sign something already agreed to. "Such a meeting is possible only to formalize agreements," Peskov told reporters, according to the Kyiv Independent. He called a real settlement "not a primitive deal" but a "very complicated" process with "a huge number of details."

The comment lands days after CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a covert trip to Moscow on Aug. 25 and personally floated the idea of a trilateral summit, according to two sources briefed on the matter who spoke to Axios. Ratcliffe met with Russia's foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin and FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov. Peskov said Putin did not meet with Ratcliffe directly but was briefed on the talks.

Trump downplayed the trip, telling Axios it was "standard business" and not meant as a warning to Russia over NATO territory. The Wall Street Journal reported Trump sent Ratcliffe without looping in some of his closest aides and military commanders beforehand, a detail that underscores how tightly this diplomatic track is being run out of the Oval Office rather than through normal interagency channels.

The New York Times reported Ratcliffe gave Bortnikov a "bleak assessment" of Russia's military and economic position and pushed Moscow to cut a deal before things get worse for the Kremlin. Sources told Axios that Ratcliffe viewed Bortnikov as someone who could push Putin back toward the table.

Kyiv Is Skeptical, and Says So

After the Ratcliffe visit, Kyrylo Budanov said U.S.-mediated talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations could resume in September, according to Anadolu Agency and Kyiv Post. But Ukrainian officials aren't betting on it. Axios reported that Ukrainian officials have intelligence suggesting Putin is planning a major escalation, not a settlement.

Budanov's deputy, Pavlo Palisa, said Putin has ordered the Russian military to prepare several offensive scenarios for northern Ukraine, including possible advances toward Kyiv and Chernihiv, according to Kyiv Post. Sergiy Kyslytsya, First Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said Putin isn't genuinely interested in peace talks and is instead relying on terror against civilians, betting that Ukrainians won't survive the winter.

The skepticism isn't new. Putin himself said Aug. 22 that new proposals he'd received were "exotic" and "unacceptable," and that Russia would only negotiate "on the basis of the realities that have developed on the ground," according to the Kyiv Independent. Moscow has also rejected a proposed partial aerial ceasefire and a U.S. suggestion to set up a free economic zone in Donbas.

There's a real diplomatic logic behind Peskov's position. Leader-level summits often exist to sign what lower-level negotiators have already hammered out, not to hash out red lines in front of cameras. A botched high-profile summit that collapses without a deal can set talks back further than no summit at all, and skeptics of rushing Trump, Putin and Zelensky into a room together argue that's exactly the risk. That's a legitimate procedural concern, separate from whether Moscow is using it as a stalling tactic.

What Ukrainian officials argue, though, is that the Kremlin has spent over a year setting conditions that never quite get met, while continuing to strike Ukrainian cities and now reportedly prepping new offensive plans. Whether that's a negotiating tactic or genuine posture is something the sources here can't settle. It's a dispute of intent, not fact, and both sides are on the record with their own version.

A Year of the Same Promise

Trump first floated a trilateral summit in August 2025, saying at the time preparations were underway and it could happen within two weeks, according to Kyiv Post. More than a year later, it still hasn't happened.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal urged the House on Aug. 30 to pass long-stalled Russia sanctions legislation ahead of the chamber's Aug. 31 return, according to the Kyiv Independent. And Russian independent outlet Mediazona, working with BBC Russian, has now confirmed the identities of 242,747 Russian military personnel killed in the war.

Budanov's September timeline for renewed talks is the next concrete marker to watch. Whether the House sanctions bill moves, whether Ratcliffe's outreach produces a second Moscow contact, and whether Palisa's warned-of northern offensive materializes will likely determine a lot more about where this goes than any statement from Peskov.