DOMINANT ANGLE
Lisbon relays the Kremlin's refusal outright, basing its coverage on the AFP dispatch published from New Delhi rather than a national reading of the file.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov told AFP from New Delhi that a meeting between Putin and Zelensky at the G20 in Miami is "impossible" and that Moscow will only consider receiving Zelensky in Moscow.
- 02
Peskov specified, citing the Tass agency, that Putin's participation in the Miami summit in December has not been decided yet: "We do not know yet if we will go to Miami or not."
- 03
In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Zelensky said he is ready to meet Putin at the G20, stating that "only the result matters", following the visit to Moscow and Kyiv by US emissaries Witkoff and Kushner.
ANALYSIS
Lisbon, September 14, 2026. The Portuguese press virtually reproduces word for word the dispatch from Agence France-Presse: "It's impossible," the Kremlin's spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, said on Saturday, when questioned in New Delhi, where he is accompanying Vladimir Putin to the BRICS summit. RTP Notícias and SAPO Notícias publish the same account, without adding any commentary — a coverage that mirrors the international wire rather than a national reading of the file.
The starting point is an interview given by Volodymyr Zelensky to the German channel Deutsche Welle, in which the Ukrainian president says he is ready to meet Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit scheduled to take place in Miami in December. When asked about the possibility of a one-on-one meeting if the two leaders were invited, he responds straightforwardly: "Yes, of course. We have to go. We have to meet, talk, and make decisions." Only the results matter, he adds, not the words exchanged.
On the Russian side, the rejection is immediate but nuanced. Peskov reaffirms Moscow's requirement: any meeting could only take place in Moscow itself. He specifies, after citing the Tass agency, that Putin's participation in the G20 in Miami has not been decided yet: "We don't know yet if we will go to Miami or not."
The Portuguese headlines link the episode to the diplomatic efforts relaunched by Washington, "which have been at a standstill for a long time" in their words. They recall the visit to Moscow and Kyiv, the previous weekend, by American emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — a "good signal," according to Zelensky — as well as a call between Putin and Donald Trump that the Kremlin described as a conversation of "extreme frankness."
None of the available articles develop the track of the tripartite talks announced for October between Kyiv, Washington, and Moscow after the Geneva session. The Lisbon reading remains focused on the exchange of statements between Miami and Moscow, without broadening to the negotiation schedule or the military context on the ground.
