Three-Way Summit Possibility Enters the Agenda

The prospect of a three-way summit involving the United States, Russia and Ukraine has come into view after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner completed a weekend peace tour between Moscow and Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin needed U.S. President Donald Trump and did not want to upset him. Zelenskyy also said the possibility of continuing trilateral U.S.-Ukraine-Russia negotiations remained open. “We need this September and October to find a way for us to talk,” he said.

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My view is that Putin needs Trump. He does not want to upset him.

Moscow offered a cautious response. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was open to the idea of trilateral negotiations, while stopping short of confirming a meeting. “We do not rule out the possibility of restarting negotiations in a trilateral format, but it is still too early to talk about the place and dates,” Peskov said.

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We need this September and October to find a way for us to talk.

Peskov added that the results of the U.S. representatives’ meetings in Kyiv had not yet been conveyed to Russia. He also said a phone call between Trump and Putin could take place.

Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow on September 5. They traveled to Kyiv the following day for peace talks with Zelenskyy. The statements from Kyiv and Moscow now leave open the possibility of another round of negotiations, without setting a time or location.

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We do not rule out the possibility of restarting negotiations in a trilateral format, but it is still too early to talk about the place and dates.