Putin may view Zelenskyy meeting as part of his efforts to counter Trump — journalist Portnikov

Journalist Vitaliy Portnikov expressed this view on Espreso TV.

“I am absolutely certain that Putin may see a meeting with Zelenskyy as part of his efforts to counter Trump. Putin has already taken several fairly successful steps to influence Trump regarding sanctions on Russia and military aid to Ukraine —  and he is winning in this game. But to keep winning, he has to keep coming up with unconventional moves. We remember the first step — in May 2025, when Putin proposed resuming negotiations in Istanbul. Trump completely fell for it. At first, Ukraine opposed these talks, but pressure came from Europeans, who heard Trump, and from the Americans themselves. In the end, we sent a delegation to Istanbul. There were several completely meaningless rounds, but at least some people were freed,” commented Vitaly Portnikov.

According to him, the talks produced no progress and did not bring even half a step closer to ending the war. However, Putin succeeded in preventing coordinated sanctions and stopping new military aid for Ukraine, which is now no longer being considered in Congress.

“The next step was in August 2025, during the meeting in Alaska. This was after the ultimatum, remember? There was supposed to be an ultimatum and new sanctions with very serious consequences, as Trump had said. Nothing happened! Moreover, Trump abandoned the idea of a ceasefire on the Russia-Ukraine front and fully adopted Putin’s positions on a peace agreement —  the very stance Putin had defended from the start: ‘no ceasefire,’ ‘let the military actions continue,’ ‘we will work on a peace deal.’ Another victory for him. Yet Trump always expects results from these talks, whether his own or the Russia-Ukraine ones —  and there are none,” the journalist noted.

He believes the situation is reaching a point where Trump, like a kettle that Putin turns off and then back on, is growing increasingly irritated. There could be a new flare-up, but Putin does not want escalation; he aims to cool things down. Accordingly, he must find a way to calm Trump and convince him to abandon any sanctions against Russia.

"Perhaps a meeting with Zelenskyy is also in the arsenal of such fabrications. Especially since Zelenskyy himself obviously wants this meeting. So why shouldn't Putin set such a trap? The point is that if he meets with Zelenskyy, he may not achieve any results, but for Trump it will be a good signal that nothing needs to be done: 'See, I promised to organize their meeting, and they met.' And after that, nothing will happen, there will be another massive attack, the death of dozens of people. Trump will start boiling again, and then it will be possible to organize a second meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy somewhere else. And that doesn't mean he'll meet if he can't find anything else to 'cool the kettle.' The meeting with the Ukrainian President is just a tool to 'cool things down,' like all his previous actions. And Putin will be looking for such tools for the period 2025-2029. You can see that Trump is happy to participate in this dirty game," Portnikov concluded. 

• The Russian leader claimed he was supposedly ready to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — but only if Zelenskyy comes to Moscow. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called this a manipulation by Putin.
• Later, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin said that “Russia gives a 100% guarantee of security” to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he comes to Moscow for a meeting.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Vladimir Putin’s proposal to come to Moscow for negotiations on a diplomatic settlement of the war in Ukraine.