VLADIMIR Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky have only met in person once before.
The next time they set eyes on each other, it could expose the Russian tyrant as a fraud and a failure before the eyes of his people.
When they initially met, Zelensky had just been inaugurated as the President of Ukraine, achieving a sweeping victory despite lacking any background in politics.
He was previously known for his work as an actor and comedian, gaining international recognition through his portrayal of an unlikely president in the Ukrainian series Servant of the People.
The difference between him and the cold, macho persona of Vladimir Putin was striking during their 2019 meeting at a summit in France.
The pair did not shake hands at the tense, fruitless meeting.
Within three years, their two countries would be locked in Europe’s bloodiest war since 1945.
Putin forced to ‘accept failure’
Donald Trump’s renewed drive to bring the war to a close could bring a once unthinkable second meeting between Zelensky and Putin to reality.
However, in the days since Trump’s separate meetings with the two leaders, Moscow has been quick to pour cold water on the prospect.
Zelensky, whose first language is Russian and performed in Moscow during Putin’s rise to power, has said he is “ready” for a meeting with Vlad.
But the very act of meeting with Zelensky could undermine Putin and the entire rationale for his war in the eyes of Russia.
Orysia Lutsevich, who directs the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, conveyed to CNN that Putin “must accept the irony of negotiating with a President he deems a joke from a nation he doesn’t acknowledge.”
Undermines Russia’s war aims
When the Russian leader initiated an attack on Kyiv in February 2022, he justified it with distorted claims that Ukraine was an imaginary nation led by Nazis.
Considering Zelensky’s Jewish heritage, such allegations appear absurd, and Putin engaging with him would implicitly validate the absurdity of the claim.
For Vlad to meet Volod for talks, they would be sat there as two Presidents of legitimate, sovereign nations – something that the Kremlin’s narrative could not possibly abide.
And so long as Ukraine remains armed and sovereign, concession to Zelensky would prove Putin’s war goals a failure.
Russia has shown little indication of making major concessions so far, with the handover of vast swathes of Ukrainian territory to Moscow still Putin’s core condition for peace.
But to avoid Trump’s wrath if talks fall through, Putin will want to shift the blame to Zelensky.
Loggerheads over location
His suggestion that the trilateral summit be held in Moscow – a predictably unacceptable proposal for Ukraine – could have been a calculated move to weasel out.
And had the meeting been held in Russia’s capital against the odds, Putin would have hailed it as a diplomatic coup for the Kremlin – and a chance to humiliate Ukraine’s war leader.
But Vlad’s surrogates have taken to the airwaves to dampen expectations around a summit.
Russia’ Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said a meeting would have to be prepared “gradually… starting with the expert level and thereafter going through all the required steps“.
Lavrov added today that not involving Russia in discussions around Ukraine’s security guarantees is a “road to nowhere”.
Disputes around the proposed location for the summit have also presented headaches for diplomats.
While a Moscow meeting between the pair remains unlikely, other venues have also proved controversial.
Suggestions for it to be held in Budapest were lambasted by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
He said: “Not everyone may remember this, but in 1994 Ukraine already got assurances of territorial integrity from the US, Russia and the UK.
“In Budapest. Maybe I’m superstitious, but this time I would try to find another place.”
Switzerland, Qatar and Austria have been floated as other prospective venues.
But Putin will be wary of a European location – where most states would be obliged to arrest him under an ICC warrant.
