Immediately after the Russia-US summit in Alaska, Donald Trump projected optimism and, according to sources, expected an early meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Axios, in conversations with European leaders the US president even named a possible date for a Russian-Ukrainian summit: August 22. But the meeting did not take place, either on that day or later.
Over time, discussion of a possible venue also began to fade. Among the locations mentioned were Hungary, Switzerland, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the Vatican, and other places.
Last week, by contrast, more and more statements appeared suggesting that such a summit should not be expected in the foreseeable future.
“It is obvious that a meeting between President Zelensky and President Putin will not happen.”
This is how German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the situation on August 28.
That same day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a media briefing that President Trump “wants the war to end,” but that this would also require both Russia and Ukraine to want that outcome. Her comment implied that Washington does not believe Moscow and Kyiv are equally committed to it.
Later, on August 30, Axios returned to the subject, citing sources.