DOMINANT ANGLE
Kyiv is distancing the meeting offer displayed by Volodymyr Zelensky at the G20 in Miami from the actual negotiation schedule, betting on the resumption in October of trilateral talks with Washington rather than a summit that Moscow has just deemed "impossible".
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Zelensky to DW: "Yes, of course. We have to come. We have to meet, talk, and make a decision."
- 02
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov to AFP: the meeting is "impossible", Putin being willing to receive Zelensky only in Moscow
- 03
Zelensky claims that Russia loses more than 30,000 men per month and produces 140 ballistic missiles per month, versus the 100 to 120 Patriot interceptors requested by Kyiv for the winter
ANALYSIS
Kyiv, Monday, September 14, 2026. In Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky's offer to meet Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Miami in December is seen as a demonstration of availability, not a bet on immediate success. In an interview with the German channel DW, the Ukrainian president was direct: "Yes, of course. We have to come. We have to meet, talk, and make a decision." He emphasized substance over form: "It's not about words... Results matter. That's it." This would be the first direct meeting between the two men since Paris, in December 2019, under the Normandy format.
The Kremlin's response, which came on the same day, confirms Kyiv's cautious reading. Asked by AFP on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi, spokesman Dmitri Peskov was clear: "It is impossible" for such a meeting to take place, adding that Vladimir Putin is only willing to receive Volodymyr Zelensky in Moscow. A Putin advisor, Iouri Ouchakov, even told the Russian press that the Russian president's participation in the G20 in Miami, scheduled for December 14 and 15 at a golf complex owned by Donald Trump, had not yet been discussed internally.
For the Ukrainian press, this double refusal - the location, the presence itself - does not close the matter: it puts the file back in the format that really counts, trilateral discussions with Washington. Kyiv indicates that it is preparing for a resumption of these three-way talks in October, after the session held in Geneva, and is expecting an American delegation as early as the end of September to discuss energy and food security. The recent visit to Kyiv by emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner is described as a "good sign" by Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president is basing his diplomatic availability on a balance of power that he considers favorable: Russia is losing more than 30,000 men per month for marginal gains on the front, while producing 140 ballistic missiles per month - against the 100 to 120 Patriot interceptors that Kyiv is demanding for the winter. These are elements that, for the local press, justify negotiating from a position considered strong, rather than from weakness.
SOURCES (4)
- Kyiv PostMEDIUM
- Ukrainska Pravda ENMEDIUM
- NV UkraineMEDIUM
