DOMINANT ANGLE
Warsaw is gauging the gap between Volodymyr Zelensky's public offer and the Kremlin's calculated caution regarding a potential meeting at the G20 in Miami.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Zelensky to Deutsche Welle: "Of course. We have to go. We have to meet, talk and make decisions", on the condition that Putin attends the G20 in Miami (December 14-15, 2026) in person
- 02
Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson: "We don't know yet if we'll go to Miami"; his advisor Ushakov clarified that the issue "hasn't even been discussed" in Moscow
- 03
The last direct meeting between Zelensky and Putin dates back to December 9, 2019, in Paris, during the Normandy format summit with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron
ANALYSIS
Warsaw, September 14, 2026. Warsaw is measuring the gap between Volodymyr Zelensky's public offer and the Kremlin's calculated caution. In an interview granted on Saturday to the German channel Deutsche Welle, the Ukrainian president stated that he is ready to meet Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit, scheduled to take place in Miami on December 14 and 15, 2026. "Of course. We have to go. We have to meet, talk and make decisions," he said, when asked about his presence if Putin also attends. Zelensky set one condition: that his Russian counterpart attend the summit in person. He added that the content of the exchanges is of little importance — "what he will tell me or what I want to tell him is not important. Only the results matter" — and believes that Kyiv is negotiating from a better position today than it was a year ago.
On the Russian side, the Polish press notes a response that is clearly more evasive than suggested by the Ukrainian interview. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov indicated on Saturday: "We do not know yet if we will go to Miami." His diplomatic advisor, Iouri Ouchakov, had earlier the same day specified that the question of Putin's personal participation in the G20 "had not even been discussed" in Moscow. So, no formal refusal, but no commitment either.
The Polish media recall that Putin has not attended a G20 summit in person since 2019, and that the last direct meeting between the two presidents dates back to December 9, 2019, in Paris, during the Normandy format summit, in the presence of Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron — which was then dedicated to the Donbass. Since then, contacts at the highest level have been almost non-existent.
Another element noted is that in August, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov participated, at the invitation of the United States, in a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina — a presence that had caused irritation among European delegations. For Warsaw, this precedent illustrates the difficulty of anticipating a possible trip by Putin to Miami: no date for resuming direct contact has been confirmed, and the announcement of a location and schedule does not guarantee the presence of the main person concerned.
