Putin's mouthpiece slaps down direct talks with Trump and Zelensky as peace hopes dwindle

 

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, dismissed recent talks in Istanbul as anything but a compromise, declaring they were aimed not at peace on “delusional terms,” but at securing “our swift victory.”

The possibility of a three-way summit involving Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Volodymyr Zelensky has effectively been ruled out by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov—just a day after the White House signaled openness to the idea. Zelensky had floated the proposal last week, saying he was “ready for any format,” more than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt raised hopes on Monday by stating that Trump was “open to it if it comes to that,” emphasizing that he wanted “both sides to come to the table.” But Peskov quickly dismissed the prospect on June 3, telling reporters such a meeting was “unlikely in the near future.”

Peskov suggested that Moscow preferred bilateral talks with Washington, noting that “channels of dialogue” with the U.S. were active and that a call between the Russian and American presidents could be arranged if needed.

Meanwhile, Monday’s talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Turkey yielded little progress, apart from agreements on a prisoner exchange and the return of the remains of 12,000 soldiers.

The discussions were overshadowed by Medvedev’s aggressive rhetoric. Repeating Moscow’s discredited narrative, he claimed the talks were not for “a compromise peace on someone else’s delusional terms but for ensuring our swift victory and the complete destruction of the neo-Nazi regime.”

Medvedev also revealed that a new Russian proposal had been presented at the talks, demanding additional territorial concessions from Ukraine, military limitations, and fresh elections. He warned of retaliation following Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian airbases over the weekend, referred to as Operation Spider Web: “Retribution is inevitable,” he said.

In a separate development, Ukraine’s SBU security service announced it had carried out an underwater attack on the Kerch Bridge in Crimea early Tuesday. It marks the third such operation against the bridge since 2022.

The SBU reported that the underwater piers had sustained serious damage, stating that the strike used the equivalent of 1,100 kg of TNT. SBU chief Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, who oversaw the mission, declared: “Crimea is Ukraine, and any signs of occupation will be met with a harsh response. There is no place for illegal Russian infrastructure on Ukrainian territory.”

Despite Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, the peninsula remains internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.