Putin and Zelenski are not planned meetings, “says the Russian Lavrov

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov throw cold water on the possibility of an upcoming meeting between the president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr ZelenskyySaying that no meeting is not planned at the moment.

“Putin is ready to meet with Zelenski when the agenda will be ready for a summit,” Lavrov said during an interview with NBC News ‘Meet the Press’, which aired on Sunday.

“And this program is not ready at all,” he continued.

Lavrov’s comments come after the President Donald Trump He suggested this month that the leaders of both countries have agreed to meet, which will mark a breakthrough in the ongoing war.

“I called President Putin and started arrangements for a meeting, in a place that will be defined between President Putin and President Zelenski,” Trump wrote about his truth social on August 18 after he met separately with the two leaders.

Trump met in Alaska with Putin and then hosted subsequently Zelenski in the White HouseAlong with several European leaders.

But in the days after Trump’s meetings with the two leaders, Russia continues to begin rocket strikes of Ukraine, including one that Hit an electronics factory Owned by an American company.

Continuing attacks – and Lavrov’s comments – raised questions about Trump’s ability to mediate for a peaceful deal between the two countries.

The White House did not immediately answer CNBC’s request for a comment on Lavrov’s remarks.

Vice president JD VANCE In a separate interview with NBC News, however, he expressed the optimism that “energy diplomacy” would “end this war.”

“In the end, we will succeed or hit a brick wall,” Vance told NBC News “Meet the Press.”

“And if we hit a brick wall, then we will continue this process of negotiations, the application of leverage,” he said.