Zelenskyy declines Putin's invitation: 'He can come to Kyiv'

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal for him to travel to Moscow to discuss a diplomatic resolution, marking the first time he addressed this suggestion in an interview with ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz for "This Week."

"He can come to Kyiv," Zelenskyy stated. "I cannot go to Moscow while my country is under missile attacks and assaults every day. I cannot visit the capital of this terrorist."

Putin "understands this," he conveyed to Raddatz.

Zelenskyy and Raddatz visited and conversed at the location of an American-owned manufacturing facility in western Ukraine that was recently struck by a Russian missile.

Zelenskyy emphasized that Putin is not genuinely interested in meeting with him as he continues to wage war in Ukraine. The Russian president claimed on Wednesday that "he has never opposed meeting with Zelenskyy."

"If Zelenskyy is prepared, then let him come to Moscow," Putin remarked. "This meeting will occur."

President Donald Trump has prioritized a meeting between the two leaders in his attempts to facilitate a peace agreement.

"Ultimately, I will arrange for the two of them to meet," he told Fox News in August. Trump aimed for a trilateral meeting involving the leaders of the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine during his summit in Alaska last month with Putin, later stating that a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy would follow after the Ukrainian leader's visit to the White House.

"A trilateral meeting will happen," the president asserted last week in an interview with The Daily Caller. "As for a bilateral, I am uncertain," he added. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz indicated this week that it was "evident" a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy would not occur.

In the Friday interview with "This Week" co-anchor Raddatz, Zelenskyy remarked that Putin's proposal was meant to "delay the meeting," affirming that he, Zelenskyy, was "prepared for the meeting" in "any format."