U.S. President Donald Trump has asked Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni if Rome could host three-way talks on the war in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, sources said Friday.
The request came during a telephone call on Thursday. According to the sources, Meloni agreed, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently consulted with France, Germany, Britain, Ukraine and Finland. Zelensky reportedly backed the idea.
However, Moscow has rejected the proposal for the talks to be held in Italy, arguing that Rome is too firmly aligned with Kyiv. A Russian source told the state news agency Tass that the meeting will not take place in the European Union, with the United Arab Emirates or Turkey emerging as the most likely alternative venues.
Putin has not yet committed to holding direct talks with Zelensky. The Kremlin said only that he and Trump have agreed to meet in the coming days.
The proposal, while diplomatically ambitious, comes amid worsening tensions between Italy and Russia. On Thursday, Moscow summoned Italy’s chargé d’affaires in Moscow to protest against what it described as an “anti-Russian campaign” in the Italian media and the government’s reaction to a controversial Russian list of alleged “Russophobes” that includes top Italian leaders. That confrontation was condemned by Premier Meloni as an “unacceptable provocation” and reported separately by Italy News Online.
If held, a three-way meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelensky would mark a rare face-to-face encounter since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. However, diplomatic analysts say securing such a summit will require overcoming deep mistrust and entrenched positions on both sides.
