Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed willingness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a December G-20 summit in Miami. During an interview with Deutsche Welle on September 11, Zelensky stated that he is ready for face-to-face negotiations and emphasized the importance of tangible results over mere words. The meeting comes amid efforts by the United States to restart stalled peace talks aimed at resolving Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-12,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed willingness to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Miami scheduled for December 14-15. During an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Zelenskyy stated, "We have to meet, to speak, and make decisions," emphasizing that the outcome of their meeting is more important than what either leader might say during discussions. The summit will be hosted at the Trump National Doral Miami, and while Russia has indicated it will send officials to a G20 energy meeting in Houston earlier in December, there's no confirmation if Putin will attend the main summit. As the war approaches its fifth year, this potential meeting could signify a shift toward negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict, which has been Europe’s deadliest since World War II.
Written for “Zelenskyy Meets Putin Offer G20” on 2026-09-12,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 8241 · logged 2026-09-12
Zelensky says he’s willing to meet Putin at G-20 ‘to make decisions’
asserted
he → say → decisions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Group of 20 summit in December, as efforts intensify to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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efforts → say → conflict
Washington is seeking to kick-start long-stalled negotiations to find a solution to the war, Europe’s deadliest since World War II, with US negotiators recently visiting Kyiv and Moscow, and President Donald Trump and Putin this week holding talks on the conflict over the phone.
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Trump → seek → phone
The US holds the 2026 presidency of the G-20 major economies, comprising 19 countries and the European Union and the African Union.
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US → hold → countries
A leaders’ summit in Miami is slated for December.
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summit → slat → December
Russia’s finance minister has already attended one G-20 meeting, causing discomfort among some of Ukraine’s allies, and a Russian diplomat said on Sept 12 that Moscow will also send some officials to a G-20 energy meeting in Houston next week.
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Moscow → attend → Houston
Asked whether he would be willing to meet Putin at the December summit if both leaders were invited, Zelensky told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle: “Yes, of course.”
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Zelensky → ask → course
He added: “We have to come.
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We → add → ?
We have to meet, to speak, and make decisions.
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We → have → decisions
It’s not about words.
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It → ’ → words
What I will tell him or what he wants to tell me, it doesn’t matter.
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it → tell → me
It doesn’t matter.
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It → matter → ?
Result matters.
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Result → matter → ?
That’s it.”
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That → ’ → ?
Last weekend, US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Putin, and Trump also discussed the war earlier in the week in what the Kremlin termed an “extremely frank” and constructive hour-long phone call.
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Kremlin → visit → what
In the Deutsche Welle interview, which took place on Sept 11 in Canada, Zelensky said Witkoff and Kushner’s visit was a “good signal”, and it was important the pair visited Kyiv as well as Moscow.
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pair → take → Kyiv
“It’s respect to our people,” he said.
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he → ’ → people
Zelensky has also announced he plans to meet Trump in late September, as Washington pushes for fresh face-to-face talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
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Washington → announce → Moscow
Asked about Ukraine’s position ahead of possible negotiations, Zelensky responded: “Ukraine now is much... stronger than last year on the battlefield.”
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Ukraine → ask → battlefield
Russia was sustaining heavy battlefield losses, paying a “big price” for “very slow moves on the battlefield”, he said.
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he → sustain → battlefield
“That’s why we think that we now have a good position for negotiations.
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we → ’ → negotiations
Kyiv has said the talks could happen as early as September, but the Kremlin on Sept 7 said it was “too early” to discuss a venue or dates.
uncertain
it → say → venue
Several previous rounds of negotiations have failed.
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rounds → fail → negotiations
Trust between the sides is low, and there is no sign that Moscow and Kyiv have shifted their positions.
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Moscow → be → positions
Both Moscow and Kyiv have escalated long-range strikes on each other in recent months, leading to the highest civilian death toll since the early days of the war.
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Moscow → escalate → war
Zelensky also repeated his call for Ukraine’s allies to provide more interceptor missiles to fend off Russian air attacks.
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allies → repeat → attacks
“Russia produces today 140 ballistic missiles per month.
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Russia → produce → month
So, according to the rules of NATO, if you want to destroy 140, you need 280.
uncertain
you → accord → 280
You will never have 280 missiles per month,” he said.
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he → have → month
It was a “huge challenge” to have 100 a month, he said.
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he → have → 100
