Ukraine Denies Bloomberg Report on Trump’s Proposal for Zelensky-Putin Meeting in Moscow

The presidential office of Ukraine has formally denied a media report claiming that United States President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to travel to Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Dmytro Litvyn, communications adviser to the Ukrainian president, rejected the claim in a statement published on Sept. 25 by the Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda, stating that the information is entirely untrue, as reported by Vesti.az. Christopher Miller, a correspondent for The Financial Times in Kyiv, also reported on the social platform X that Ukrainian officials present at the meeting confirmed no such push for a Moscow visit occurred.

Disputed Meeting Details and New York Talks

Bloomberg had previously reported, citing anonymous sources, that the exchange happened during a bilateral meeting between Trump and Zelensky on Sept. 22 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York. According to that initial report, Zelensky rejected the alleged proposal and felt frustrated by it. Both Zelensky and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held separate meetings with members of the Trump administration in New York that week.

Diplomatic Positions on Venue and Security

Washington has pressed both Kyiv and Moscow to halt strikes against critical energy infrastructure amid rising global diesel fuel prices. Meanwhile, diplomatic wrangling over the location of any potential high-level talks continues to stall direct contact.

On Sept. 25, Zelensky stated that technical-level trilateral negotiations involving the United States, Ukraine, and Russia could potentially take place in the United Arab Emirates. However, the Kremlin previously rejected a Ukrainian proposal to stage talks during a G20 summit in Miami, where Washington had invited Putin.

Moscow has maintained that a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelensky can only happen inside the Russian capital. On Sept. 23, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the Ukrainian president could travel to Moscow if he wished, adding that necessary security guarantees would be provided, though he cautioned that talks without prior expert preparation would be a waste of time.