Lavrov rejects phone call claims
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied on October 30 that Moscow seeks to arrange a phone call between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky instead of a face-to-face meeting. He told Deutsche Welle journalists at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Miami, "Don’t trust them." This dismissal concerned reports that Moscow favors a conversation to avoid a personal encounter. Lavrov avoided answering whether Putin is ready to speak with Zelensky by phone and instead stated that the Ukrainian president "should travel to Moscow" for a bilateral meeting. When asked about a possible meeting at the upcoming December G20 summit, Lavrov noted that Ukraine is not a member of the group. The Russian minister’s refusal to engage with the possibility of a phone call directly contradicts reports from Ukrainian officials regarding Moscow’s true intentions for the talks.
Ukrainian officials fear Moscow’s tactics
Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent that Moscow is pushing for a phone conversation to avoid a personal encounter between the two leaders. They believe this tactic would achieve little while helping Putin avoid meeting Zelensky in person. One Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Kyiv Independent that Russia already attempted to arrange such a call. These officials fear that Moscow’s insistence on a phone call could give the Kremlin another reason to walk away from talks without making meaningful commitments. They argue that a meeting with third parties would better address the disputes. One senior Ukrainian official questioned in a conversation with the Kyiv Independent whether a phone call could resolve the specific issues at stake without U.S. involvement, given that Moscow frequently challenges Zelensky to visit Moscow whenever the Ukrainian side raises the possibility of a meeting. Since Donald Trump took office in 2025, Ukraine has made several attempts to arrange a meeting between the two leaders. Zelensky has had only two calls and one face-to-face meeting with Putin since becoming president, all of which occurred in 2019 and 2020. On October 30, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin "hasn’t called yet" when asked if he would answer if Zelensky called. Zelensky has called for Putin to meet him in a neutral location rather than in Moscow.
