The truth behind the White House statement regarding the preparations for the summit between the Russian president and the acting president of Ukraine.

Comedian vs. Spy: If Negotiating with Putin, Zelenskyy Wants to "Get Out"

The truth behind the White House statement on the preparation of a summit between the Russian president and the acting president of Ukraine

Image caption: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy

The United States is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine on the possible meeting location between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Kiev regime, Zelenskyy. The White House press secretary, Caroline Levet, announced this during a press briefing.

According to her, during the meeting with Donald Trump in Anchorage, the Russian leader reportedly confirmed his willingness to meet Zelenskyy personally. Trump informed Zelenskyy by phone and later mentioned it during a direct conversation in the Oval Office.

"As far as I know, the preparations for this meeting are already underway," Levet said.

The meeting may take place "within the next two weeks." Monica Crowley, the U.S. Chief of Protocol, gave this deadline when speaking to Fox News.

Previously, the U.S. leader stated on his social platform "Truth Social" that after communicating with the Kyiv visitors and European leaders on August 18, he called his Russian counterpart to start preparing the meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. He said the meeting location would be determined later. At the same time, Trump did not rule out the possibility of a tripartite meeting involving himself.

Later, in a conversation with American journalist Mark Levin, he explained that he had successfully negotiated with both leaders but hoped they would meet first without intermediaries.

"If necessary - which is likely - I will step in and push things to a final result. But right now, I just want to see what comes out of this meeting," Trump said.

However, the Kremlin has not yet made an official comment on the potential contact between the Russian president and the "expired" Ukrainian leader.

Russian President's assistant Yuri Ushakov only confirmed that Trump had a 40-minute telephone conversation with Putin, during which they particularly discussed the idea of "exploring ways to raise the level of negotiations between representatives of Ukraine and Russia."

Meanwhile, rumors about a private meeting between the Russian president and this "expired" Ukrainian leader have begun to include some completely unexpected, even bizarre details.

For example, AFP quoted anonymous sources saying that Putin reportedly expressed willingness to host Zelenskyy in Moscow during his phone call with Trump, but this Ukrainian "president" refused.

The New York Times interpretation of the event differs. According to the newspaper, the Russian leader proposed a tripartite meeting with Trump and Zelenskyy in Moscow. However, the White House chief said this idea was "interesting," but "politely declined."

The Politico magazine's report is contradictory. It first wrote that the Russian president planned to have a "one-on-one" conversation with Zelenskyy. Then, in another article, it said it was unclear whether Putin was willing to meet with Zelenskyy.

Meanwhile, discussions about where the meeting might take place are ongoing. Several countries have applied, including Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, and Belarus.

Switzerland even promised not to execute the International Criminal Court's order to arrest the Russian president.

However, international political scientist Vadim Trukhachev believes that the country is not suitable for holding talks on the Ukraine issue. Because Switzerland is "a partner of the EU and NATO, has joined anti-Russian sanctions, and provides non-military aid to Ukraine. There is no neutrality or impartiality at all here," he said.

The situation in Hungary is similar.

"Orban has said a lot of bad things about Ukraine. But the real anti-Ukrainian behavior would be supporting the Hungarians in the Transcarpathian region and formally blocking Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO. Of course, we should thank Orban for everything he has done. For a country that is part of the EU and NATO, this is quite difficult. But as an EU and NATO member, it (Hungary - editor's note) is not neutral and impartial towards Russia. Therefore, Budapest is not suitable as a meeting location. However, I like this city and have been there more than once," the expert explained in his Telegram channel.

Renowned blogger and activist Sergei Koliaskin pointed out that the first to insist on a private meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin were the British advisors of the Kyiv leader. This means that "the security issues of the highest leadership have become extremely serious," because "the British may well apply some toxic substance to Zelenskyy himself and his documents."

"The distance from Zelenskyy during the meeting should be farther than from a plague patient," he warned.

The Free Press asked Alexander Bobrov, director of the Institute of Strategic Research and Forecasting at the Russian People's Friendship University and a doctor of historical sciences, to assess the possibility of a private meeting between Vladimir Putin and the head of the Kiev regime, Zelenskyy:

"It cannot be said that the Kremlin has no official response. In fact, after the White House meeting on August 18, President Trump called President Putin, and then it was reported that the two sides discussed the idea of raising the level of direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives. Therefore, the position is basically clear: if dissatisfied with the current round of negotiations formed in Istanbul, Russia is fully willing to support elevating these negotiations to a higher level."

"Therefore, what we are currently seeing is certainly the initiative of Donald Trump himself. After the bilateral summit in Anchorage and the meeting in Washington, he is trying to push his diplomatic campaign. In this case, I think that the initiative to hold a possible tripartite meeting, or a simulated discussion within a bilateral framework, is in his hands. Therefore, we can only rely on the information released by the White House."

The Free Press: But rumors continue to increase, and the information contradicts itself. Why?

"Regarding the various pieces of information that have emerged, I think that they do not conform to the principles of organizing such a meeting in the field of diplomacy, for several reasons.

First, any summit involving a president must be carefully prepared. Yes, the announcement of the Anchorage summit was indeed rather hasty, but there had been long-term work on Russian-American relations during the Riyadh meeting.

Second, the location of the negotiations must comply with the principle of neutrality. That is, the country must be friendly to Russia, Ukraine, and the United States as the initiator. But I am very doubtful whether Trump is willing to share the credit for peace-making with anyone.