Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin could meet for the first time in six years in the hope of ending the Ukraine war – but it remains unclear just where the two leaders will come face-to-face.
The White House is in the process of selecting a location for the potential meeting, that has been championed by the US president Donald Trump.
A warrant against the Russian president by the International Criminal Court means destinations are limited to countries that are not signees of the Rome Statute.
Trump explained to Fox News radio host Mark Levin: “They are in the process of setting it up,” before casting doubt on whether he would even attend such talks. “Now I think it would be better if they met without me. … If necessary, I’ll go.”
When asked how he balanced the interests of all the parties involved, Trump said: “Well, it’s probably instinct more than process. I have instincts.”
There has been so far no confirmation from Russia that a potential bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky is being planned.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told state media on Tuesday that any meeting would have to take place “step by step, gradually, starting from the expert level and then going through all the necessary stages”.
Here are the potential destinations where a summit between Putin and Zelensky could take place:
Budapest, Hungary
The White House has said they are considering Budapest as a potential venue for talks having spoken to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.
This wouldn’t be the first time Budapest has been a key destination for talks between Russia and Ukraine. In 1994, then US president Bill Clinton met with Russian president Boris Yeltsin and Ukraine’s leader Leonid Kravchuk.
At the time, Ukraine was given assurances of territorial integrity from the US, Russia and the UK that meant little when Putin launched an assault 20 years later.
“Maybe I’m superstitious, but this time I would try to find another place,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on social media.
Orban, who remains Putin’s closest ally in Europe, has long advocated to open up negotiations with the Russian leader.
“It has been confirmed that the isolation-based strategy has failed,” he said on Tuesday after a meeting with the European Union. “It has been confirmed that there is no solution to the Russia-Ukraine war on the frontline; only diplomatic efforts can bring a solution.”
Geneva, Switzerland
Switzerland, famous for its neutrality, has said they would be ready to host Putin for any peace talks on Ukraine, despite being a signatory of the ICC.
Foreign minister Ignazio Cassis told Swiss national broadcaster SRF that provided Putin was coming for peace purposes, the country could receive him.
“This has to do with our diplomatic role, with international Geneva as (the European) headquarters of the United Nations,” Cassis told the broadcaster.
French president Emmanuel Macron has mooted Geneva as a potential location for Ukraine peace talks between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a meeting between President Trump, Zelensky and European leaders in Washington.
Istanbul, Turkey
A senior Trump administration official said that Istanbul had also been mentioned as a potential venue for the two leaders to meet, as Talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations have previously taken place in the city.
On Wednesday, Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Putin on the phone to discuss Ukraine and the outcome of Putin’s summit last week, according to the Kremlin.
Moscow, Russia
While meeting with Trump, Putin reportedly suggested the rather unlikely location of Moscow for talks with Ukraine.
However, both Zelensky and the US were unsurprisingly quick to reject the idea.
Minsk, Belarus
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko’s spokesperson has said Minsk is ready to mediate a possible meeting between Russia and Ukraine.
Bordering Russia and Ukraine, Belarus has maintained close ties with Putin. The country’s relationship with Ukraine has deteriorated since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Where did Zelensky and Putin last meet?
Ukraine’s leader and his Russian counterpart have not met in person since 2019, when they met in Paris to discuss an end to fighting in the Donbas region.
The Normandy Format Summit, arranged by French, German, Russian and Ukrainian diplomats, took place in Zelensky’s first year in office after he became president earlier that year.
Agreements were made to disengage troops from areas of the Donbas region by the end of March 2020 and a roadmap was agreed for elections in occupied regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, with plans to reintegrate the territory back into the rest of Ukraine.
But following the talk, the two countries continued to disagree on issues relating to the war-torn region.
