Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is prepared to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at December’s G20 summit in Miami, arguing that direct talks are worthwhile only if they produce concrete decisions toward ending the war.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is ready to sit down face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Miami this December if both leaders attend, opening another potential path for direct negotiations as Washington intensifies efforts to end the war.
Asked during an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle whether he would meet Putin at the gathering, Zelensky answered without hesitation.
“Yes, of course.
“We have to come. We have to meet, to speak, and make decisions.
“It’s not about words. What I will tell him or what he wants to tell me, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Matters only result. Result matters. That’s it.”
The remarks put Zelensky publicly on record as willing to meet Putin at a major international gathering hosted by the United States, although the Kremlin has not confirmed that the Russian president will attend.
The United States holds the G20 presidency this year, with the leaders’ summit scheduled for Miami in December. The organization brings together 19 countries along with the European Union and African Union.
Russia’s participation in U.S.-hosted G20 events has already generated concern among some of Ukraine’s European allies. Russia’s finance minister attended an earlier gathering, and Moscow is expected to send representatives to a G20 energy meeting in Houston next week.
Zelensky’s willingness to meet Putin comes amid the most concentrated U.S. diplomatic push in months.
American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled first to Moscow for lengthy discussions with Putin before continuing to Kyiv for talks with Zelensky and Ukrainian officials. The visits did not produce an immediate breakthrough but revived consideration of direct negotiations after earlier attempts stalled.
Zelensky described the American envoys’ engagement with both capitals as encouraging.
Their trip to Moscow was a “good signal,” he said, adding that their subsequent visit to Kyiv also carried significance.
“It’s respect to our people,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian leader has said the U.S. proposals contain potentially workable ideas, though the details have largely remained confidential. Negotiators have discussed possible steps involving energy infrastructure, grain shipments and prisoner exchanges as possible components of a wider diplomatic process.
Trump and Putin also spoke by telephone earlier this week in an hour-long conversation that the Kremlin characterized as “extremely frank” and constructive. Trump told Putin he wanted the war ended quickly, while both leaders agreed to remain in contact as U.S. officials explore whether direct negotiations can be restarted.
Zelensky is also planning to meet Trump later in September as Kyiv seeks to coordinate its negotiating position with Washington and secure additional military assistance before winter.
Despite the renewed diplomacy, major differences between Moscow and Kyiv remain unresolved, and previous rounds of negotiations have failed to produce a lasting settlement.
Zelensky nevertheless argued that Ukraine now enters any potential talks from a stronger position than it held a year ago.
“Ukraine now is much more stronger than last year on the battlefield,” Zelensky said.
He argued that Russian forces are sustaining heavy losses while achieving comparatively limited territorial gains, forcing Moscow to pay a “big price” for “very slow moves on the battlefield.”
“That’s why we think that we have now good position for negotiations.”
Fighting remains intense, particularly in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces continue pressing toward strategically important cities in the Donetsk region. Neither side has achieved the kind of decisive battlefield breakthrough that would resolve the conflict militarily, while both countries have intensified long-range strikes far behind the front lines.
The escalation has coincided with renewed diplomatic activity. Recent Russian missile and drone attacks have inflicted civilian casualties across Ukraine, while Kyiv continues striking Russian military, industrial and energy targets.
Ukraine has said direct talks could potentially resume soon, although Russian officials have continued to caution against setting dates or locations prematurely. The Kremlin has also not committed Putin to attending the Miami summit.
For Zelensky, negotiations are occurring alongside an urgent effort to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses against Russian missile attacks.
He again appealed to allied governments for additional interceptor missiles, arguing that Russia’s expanding ballistic missile production presents a mathematical challenge for Ukrainian air defenses.
“Russia produces… today 140 ballistic missiles per month. So, according to the rules of NATO, if you want to destroy 140, you need 280… You will never have 280 missiles per month,” Zelensky said.
Producing or obtaining even 100 interceptors each month would represent a “huge challenge,” he added. Zelensky’s estimate of roughly 140 Russian ballistic missiles produced monthly was also cited in reporting on his latest remarks.
Ukraine has repeatedly sought additional Patriot interceptors and other air-defense systems from the United States and European allies as Russia expands missile and drone attacks ahead of winter. The issue is expected to be part of Zelensky’s forthcoming discussions with Trump.
The possibility of a Miami encounter would carry significance beyond the G20 itself. Zelensky and Putin have not met face-to-face since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and a meeting would place the two leaders directly across the table at a time when Washington is attempting to revive a negotiating process that has repeatedly broken down.
Zelensky made clear that simply holding such a meeting would not be enough.
For the Ukrainian president, the value of confronting Putin directly would depend not on their exchange of arguments but on whether the encounter resulted in decisions capable of moving the conflict toward an end.
“What I will tell him or what he wants to tell me, it doesn’t matter,” Zelensky said. “Result matters. That’s it.”
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