RUSSIA yesterday appeared to shoot down Donald Trump’s three-way peace summit with Ukraine.
The US President told allies on Wednesday that a meeting with despot Vladimir Putin next week could be followed by another including Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky .
The idea had been raised earlier that day by US envoy Steve Witkoff during a three-hour meeting with Putin in Moscow .
But the Kremlin appeared determined to freeze Ukraine out of discussion on its own future.
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov insisted: “A three-way meeting was not discussed.
“The Russian side left this option completely without comment.”
Talking of a ceasefire, Mr Zelensky said: “Ukraine is ready for it, but there has been no clear public response from Russia yet.”
He added: “The near future must show what the consequences will be if Russia continues to drag out the war and disrupt constructive efforts.”
If Trump meets Putin next week it will be their first face to face encounter since 2019, when they met at a G20 summit .
Putin hinted the talks could take place in the UAE .
But John Foreman, a former defence attache at the British Embassy in Moscow, said: “This has all the signs of going off half cocked.
“Summits usually take months of detailed preparation. Trump is, unwisely, trying to Hail Mary a peace agreement, while Putin is going to string him along by dangling a deal which demands Ukrainian capitulation.”
He warned Ukraine would be “left in the lurch”.
Last night, top US diplomat Marco Rubio also appeared to cast doubt on whether a Trump-Putin meeting would happen soon.
Asked about the chances on Fox News , he said: “It depends on how much progress we make. If we get 75-85 per cent of the way there, a leaders-level meeting could close it.”
Meanwhile, Russian drones killed at least three people in Nikopol, in southern Ukraine, including 23-year-old rescuer Danylo Khizhnyak.
Survivors blamed a “double tap” strike designed to kill first responders.
In Donetsk, fighters from Ukraine’s 82nd Separate Airborne Assault Brigade used a Soviet era D-30 howitzer to hammer Russian positions.
