Vladimir Putin briefly suggested in a phone call with Donald Trump on Monday that he could host a potential one-on-one meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Russia, according to officials familiar with the call.
The phone call took place as Zelenskyy and other European leaders had gathered at the White House. However, after the conversation concluded and the dignitaries present discussed it, one of the officials, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said “it was clear that it wasn’t serious” — an unsurprising conclusion given that the Kremlin has tried to assassinate Zelenskyy on multiple occasions, per Kyiv.
“Everyone immediately dismissed it and passed it by yesterday, and today the media is making a big deal out of it,” the official said.
