‘Let him come to Moscow,’ Putin says about Zelenskyy
Here is the relevant excerpt from Putin’s press conference in Beijing:
“I’ve never excluded the possibility of meeting with him. But does it make sense to meet with him?”
He suggested that Zelenskyy’s term has expired with “no means of extending it,” once again questioning his legitimacy to hold the office without elections.
“So does it make sense to meet with the current administration? We could do that; I’ve never refused to do that if that leads to some positive outcomes,” he argued.
He said Trump asked him if it was possible to which he replied:
“I said yes, it was possible, let him come to Moscow.”
(Translation from the Russian via Sky News)
Key events
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No preparations for Trump’s visit to Russia, Putin says
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Putin signals readiness to raise seniority of Russia’s delegation for talks with Ukraine
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Putin appears unfazed by prospect of more EU sanctions, claiming Ukraine is ‘excuse’ for measures targeting Russia
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‘If common sense prevails, there is a way of ending this conflict,’ Putin says, but warns about ‘military means’ if no agreement
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‘Let him come to Moscow,’ Putin says about Zelenskyy
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‘Let Zelenskyy come to Moscow’ for meeting, Putin says
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Poland’s Nawrocki set to visit Trump for talks on security, Ukraine in his first foreign policy test
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‘You’re not only fighting your own war; you’re fighting for entire future of Europe,’ Denmark’s Frederiksen tells Zelenskyy
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Coalition of the Willing ‘will try’ to speak to Trump on Thursday to urge more pressure on Russia, Zelenskyy says
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Thursday’s meeting of the Coalition of the Willing to firm up plans for guarantees for Ukraine, Nato’s Rutte says
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Afternoon opening: Intense diplomatic work on Ukraine
Jakub Krupa
And that ends Putin’s press conference in Beijing.
Good timing: given that we are expecting Poland’s Nawrocki at the White House in the coming hours, we will no doubt see Trump asked about some of the points raised about Putin in his press conference.
No preparations for Trump’s visit to Russia, Putin says
Putin also got asked about his invitation, expressed during the Alaska summit, for Trump to visit Russia.
He says there are no active preparations for any such visit, but the invitation remains open.
Putin signals readiness to raise seniority of Russia’s delegation for talks with Ukraine
Putin also suggested Russia could send a more senior representation for future talks with Ukraine.
Asked about it, he said:
“If there’s a need to increase the level of the representative group, we are prepared for this. I am not prepared to talk about specific people, but yes, we’re prepared … to lift it to a very high political level.”
Putin appears unfazed by prospect of more EU sanctions, claiming Ukraine is ‘excuse’ for measures targeting Russia
Putin was also asked about the prospect of more EU sanctions against Russia or its allies, including China and India.
He said the leaders did not discuss this during their recent conversations.
“This does not concern us. Events in Ukraine are just an excuse for economic decisions against certain countries,” he claimed.
‘If common sense prevails, there is a way of ending this conflict,’ Putin says, but warns about ‘military means’ if no agreement
In another set of comments about the state of war, Putin said:
“I believe that if common sense is there, then it is possible to agree an acceptable option or acceptable way of ending this conflict.”
He praised the US administration saying “they have got the will and desire to find a solution.”
“I think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. We will see.
Otherwise, we will be forced to resolve all our objective objectives through military means.”
Putin also claimed that Russian forces were advancing on all fronts in Ukraine, and argued that in his view Ukraine was increasingly not capable of conducting large-scale offensive due to limited means.
Putin was also asked about German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s comments calling him “a war criminal.”
Rejecting his criticism, Putin replied it was “an awkward attempt to remove from himself – not from himself personally, but from the country – the responsibility for the tragedy that is taking place in Ukraine.”
He then made a reference to the Minsk agreements, alleging that Europeans did not stand by the agreement. (Not saying anything about Russia’s non-observance of its provisions, though.)
“We will never accept a situation where Russia is just observing how its rights are ignored,” he said.
‘Let him come to Moscow,’ Putin says about Zelenskyy
Here is the relevant excerpt from Putin’s press conference in Beijing:
“I’ve never excluded the possibility of meeting with him. But does it make sense to meet with him?”
He suggested that Zelenskyy’s term has expired with “no means of extending it,” once again questioning his legitimacy to hold the office without elections.
“So does it make sense to meet with the current administration? We could do that; I’ve never refused to do that if that leads to some positive outcomes,” he argued.
He said Trump asked him if it was possible to which he replied:
“I said yes, it was possible, let him come to Moscow.”
(Translation from the Russian via Sky News)
‘Let Zelenskyy come to Moscow’ for meeting, Putin says
We are getting some lines from Russian president Vladimir Putin, via Reuters, speaking about the prospects of a high-level meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He is reported to have said “let Zelenskyy come to Moscow and the meeting will happen,” with a caveat that the meeting needs to be “well prepared.”
I will bring you full quotes as soon as we have them.
Poland’s Nawrocki set to visit Trump for talks on security, Ukraine in his first foreign policy test
Jakub Krupa
Poland’s conservative nationalist president Karol Nawrocki is due to meet Donald Trump at the White House in the first serious test of his foreign policy credentials.
Backed by the populist rightwing opposition Law and Justice party, which ruled Poland between 2015 and 2023, Nawrocki unexpectedly won Poland’s presidential election after running a campaign under a Trumpesque slogan of “Poland first, Poles first”.
The historian turned politician had met the US president before the election, securing his highly prized endorsement and presenting himself as someone who could safeguard Poland’s interests with the conservative US administration.
When he won, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Such a great win in Poland by Karol Nawrocki. He will be a great president!”
Nawrocki’s visit to the White House on Wednesday will be his first overseas trip since taking office last month, and is expected to focus on security issues, including Ukraine, but also on economic and energy cooperation.
But the visit has also prompted fresh tensions with the nation’s pro-European government led by Donald Tusk.
Nawrocki, a fierce critic of Tusk who has pledged to continue supporting Kyiv but opposes Ukraine’s membership in Nato and pushed for tightening the benefits paid out to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, publicly clashed with the government over his intention to pursue his foreign policy independently of the government.
For more background, read the full story:
‘You’re not only fighting your own war; you’re fighting for entire future of Europe,’ Denmark’s Frederiksen tells Zelenskyy
In her comments, Frederiksen says that “maybe the most important part of future security guarantees in Ukraine is ensuring that you have a strong army – a well-equipped and trained Ukrainian army.”
“We have said from the beginning of this war that you are not only fighting your own war, you are fighting for the entire future of Europe. And therefore we have to continue [our support],” she said.
She also talked about the need for further security guarantees, which will be discussed at the Coalition of the Willing’s meeting on Thursday.
Coalition of the Willing ‘will try’ to speak to Trump on Thursday to urge more pressure on Russia, Zelenskyy says
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen are now talking with journalists after the earlier NB8 meeting on Ukraine.
Zelenskyy stresses that Ukraine really counts on further support via the Nato’s PURL programme, and talks about the need for air defence system supplies which he describes as “absolutely strategic” ahead of winter.
The Ukrainian president also says that he wants the future security guarantees for Ukraine to go further than the existing wartime arrangements to make sure that “it doesn’t matter who will be the leader of one or another country, this system has to work” to uphold peace.
As a journalist invites him to criticise Trump for not putting more pressure on Russia, he elegantly sidesteps that question and stresses that Ukraine needs the US “on our side, in this crucial period.”
He stresses that Ukraine needs more air defence systems, and “to be realistic, mostly United States has it.”
But he eventually concedes that some decisions are progressing “very slow.”
Zelenskyy also talks about the importance of further sanctions on Russia, pointing out that it’s been more than two weeks since Trump-Putin conversation, with Russia seemingly showing no interest in progressing the talks – despite the promise made to the US president.
He reveals that the leaders taking part in the Coalition of the Willing meeting tomorrow “will try to connect with President Trump, and we’ll speak about it.”
Asked if he could trust Putin’s word, he replies:
Nobody trusts Putin.
He adds:
“Who can give you guarantees that Putin will not continue [the invasion]? Nobody. He lied so many times, so we can’t trust it.”
Thursday’s meeting of the Coalition of the Willing to firm up plans for guarantees for Ukraine, Nato’s Rutte says
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said he expected tomorrow’s talks between European leaders in Paris to firm up plans on security guarantees for Ukraine, and pave the way to get a clearer picture on US involvement.
“Tomorrow will be an important meeting, so I expect tomorrow, or soon after tomorrow, to have clarity on what collectively we can deliver,” Rutte told journalists at a press conference alongside Estonian president Alar Karis.
“That means that we can engage even more intensely, also with the American side to see what they want to deliver in terms of their participation.”
Afternoon opening: Intense diplomatic work on Ukraine
Jakub Krupa
After a heavy night of Russian attacks in Ukraine, it’s another busy day for European diplomacy as leaders seek new ways to pressure Russia into engaging with the peace process and are confronted with a new geopolitical reality.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Denmark, meeting with the Nordic and the Baltic leaders (the so-called NB8) to discuss further support for his country, while Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki is about to make his debut appearance on the international stage visiting US president Donald Trump at the White House.
We should hear from all of them this afternoon.
But then Slovak prime minister Robert Fico is in Beijing, where – fresh from meeting one-on-one with Russian president Vladimir Putin and talking about the need for “standardisation” of their bilateral relations – he joined a massive military parade intended to show China’s military might.
Xi Jinping said the world was facing a choice between peace or war as he held China’s largest-ever military parade, joined by Putin and Kim Jong-un in a show of defiance to the west.
Putin also invited Kim Jong-un to visit Russia during a lengthy meeting in Beijing on the sidelines of China’s biggest military parade, as Kim promised to do “everything I can to assist” Moscow.
Let’s see what the day brings us. I will bring you all the key updates here.
It’s Wednesday, 3 September 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good afternoon.
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