Vladimir Putin said that the “root causes” of the Ukraine conflict need to be addressed in order to achieve a lasting peace.POOL photo by Maxim Shipenkov/AFP via Getty Images

Moscow waffles on Putin-Zelenskyy summit as Trump escalates pressure – POLITICO

by · POLITICO

Don’t free up your calendar just yet.

Moscow on Tuesday moved to cool expectations of a long-awaited face-to-face summit between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, despite much excitement following U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House meetings with top European leaders on Monday.

Trump has been enthusiastically touting the idea of a trilateral summit featuring himself, Putin and Zelenskyy as the best route to end the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. But Russia signaled it was in no rush to get there.