Russia rejects Zelensky meeting as diplomatic tension simmers

Russia on Friday ruled out an immediate meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, as diplomatic tension escalated with the Ukrainian president, and US mediation efforts appeared to stumble.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said “no meeting” between Vladimir Putin and Zelensky was planned, as Nato chief Mark Rutte visited Kyiv, largely to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump raised expectations for a swift summit between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents by saying they had both agreed to meet after Zelensky, Rutte and Kyiv’s European allies visited the White House on Monday.

But on Friday, Lavrov dashed hopes for direct Putin-Zelensky talks to resolve the conflict, now in its fourth year, by questioning the Ukrainian president’s legitimacy and repeating the Kremlin’s maximalist claims.

“There is no meeting planned,” Lavrov said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.

Lavrov told the US broadcaster Putin was “ready to meet Zelensky” as soon as an agenda was prepared, adding that the agenda was “not ready at all”.