“He can come to Kyiv,” Zelensky said in an interview with ABC News, laughing and shaking his head after being asked about the Moscow invitation.

“I can’t go to Moscow when my country’s under missiles, under attack, each day. I can’t go to the capital of this terrorist.”

Despite repeatedly avoiding an in-person meeting, Putin claimed that he has “never ruled out” direct talks with the Ukrainian president, adding, “If Zelensky is ready, let him come to Moscow.”

The meeting between the two leaders would be a crucial step toward negotiating an end to the full-scale war in Ukraine, now ongoing for three and a half years.

Following talks with Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he was working to facilitate a potential meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. The Kremlin has denied that any such agreement was reached.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a bilateral summit between Putin and Zelensky is “not ready at all,” despite Trump’s statements. Talking to U.S. media in August, Lavrov repeated Russian propaganda narratives that Zelensky is not a legitimate leader, a justification often used by the Kremlin to dodge the meeting.

Zelensky has previously voiced readiness to meet Putin on neutral ground, including during Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul earlier this year — a proposal rejected by Moscow.

Despite international efforts to negotiate an end to the war, Moscow has refused calls for a ceasefire and continued to push maximalist demands, namely, a ban on Ukraine joining NATO and control over the entire Donetsk Oblast, including areas not controlled by Russian forces.

Simultaneously, Russia has ramped up aerial attacks against Ukrainian cities and continued ground offensive operations in Ukraine’s east.

According to the outlet, Washington’s role would be to use drones, satellites, and other intelligence capabilities to monitor conditions and coordinate with participating nations. Moscow has repeatedly rejected the idea of Western or NATO troops in Ukraine as part of any peace settlement.

Politico previously outlined the same proposal for a buffer zone, suggesting involvement of third-party states but not naming them, and indicating that French and British troops could make up much of the force. A former Pentagon official told the outlet the plan reflected Kiev’s European backers “grasping at straws.”

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin again stressed Moscow’s opposition, warning that foreign soldiers would either become targets for Russian forces during hostilities or serve no purpose if a genuine peace agreement were reached. He added that “the West’s dragging of Ukraine into NATO was one of the causes of the conflict” and said any settlement would have to include security guarantees for both Russia and Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky met with members of the “coalition of the willing,” the group of nations supplying Kiev with weapons and promising security commitments in the event of a resolution with Russia. Most of them have publicly ruled out putting their own forces on the ground.

Meanwhile, Moscow has announced it plans to establish its own buffer zone along parts of the border to protect Russian civilians, particularly in Kursk and Bryansk regions. Putin noted in May that Ukrainian forces often target non-military assets, including homes and civilian vehicles such as ambulances and farm equipment, which he said made such measures necessary.