Zelenskyy Rejects Putin’s Invitation for Meeting in Moscow: ‘He Can Come to Kyiv’

The Russian president says peace summit can only happen in Moscow, while the Ukrainian leader calls the idea a stalling tactic.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, on Aug. 13, 2025. Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that the two leaders meet in Moscow for peace talks, saying that he refuses to travel to the capital of a country still bombarding his nation.

“He can come to Kyiv,” Zelenskyy told ABC News in a Sept. 5 interview. “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.”