ROME: A summit with Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky in the Italian capital is unlikely to ha...
ROME: A summit with Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky in the Italian capital is unlikely to happen, diplomatic sources told TASS.
"A meeting in Rome is unlikely," a source said, noting that there are both logistical and political reasons for this.
The source said that Moscow sees Italy as an unfriendly country, and has criticized its actions repeatedly.
"It is unlikely that Russia will want to give political prestige to this government," said another agency source, adding that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had already tried to gain political dividends when the Vatican was mentioned as a possible venue for negotiations.
Rome was named by Sky News as a possible venue for the trilateral meeting, indicating that this option suits both the US and Ukraine. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested Geneva as a meeting place.
Prospects for a trilateral meeting
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow was not abandoning any formats of work on the Ukrainian settlement, including bilateral or trilateral talks.
On August 18, Trump received Zelensky, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, France’s Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Meloni, head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
During the meeting, Trump called Putin, with whom he discussed prospects for a meeting between the Russian leader and Zelensky, and later trilateral negotiations. According to Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, the leaders supported the continuation of direct consultations between Moscow and Kiev, including raising their level.
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