Putin Invites Zelensky to Moscow for Direct Negotiations, Assuring Security Arrangements Would Be Provided
Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Moscow for direct negotiations, assuring him that all necessary conditions, including security arrangements, would be provided.
The invitation was relayed Tuesday by Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, according to the state-run news agency Tass.
It came after Finnish and Norwegian leaders told Putin that Zelensky was interested in direct talks.
How the Invitation Was Delivered
Ushakov said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Putin during a recent phone call that Zelensky was interested in holding direct talks with the Russian leader.
"Our boss reiterated that if Zelenskyy truly wishes to hold direct negotiations, he should come to Moscow, where all necessary conditions, including those regarding his safety, will be provided for him," Tass said, citing Ushakov.
Ushakov added that the phone call lasted 90 minutes and ended with the parties agreeing to speak again if necessary.
"The phone conversation was, I would say, thorough and substantive," he said.
Ushakov also said the question of European representation in negotiations on Ukraine was not currently under consideration.
"We are not looking at who might represent Europe at all, as that will be decided at a much later stage," he said.
Separate reporting on the same call said a leaders-level meeting would make sense only after the negotiating process had produced agreements ready for their consideration and possible signing, suggesting no Putin-Zelensky meeting has been scheduled.
The Abu Dhabi Talks Behind the Call
Ushakov said the phone conversation involving Store, Stubb and Putin focused primarily on an agreement to resume trilateral talks among Russian, Ukrainian and US representatives in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow said they had agreed to hold United States-mediated technical meetings in Abu Dhabi in early November, per Reuters reporting on the talks.
Stubb and Store called Putin from Helsinki on Tuesday to convey messages on future negotiations ahead of the Abu Dhabi meetings, according to a statement from both governments.
The two governments described Tuesday's call, held in consultation with Ukraine, as a follow-up to talks in Oslo on October 20 with Zelensky and US special envoy Steve Witkoff. Witkoff met Putin in St. Petersburg the next day, after which the Kremlin said it was ready to resume US-mediated talks with Kyiv that stalled in February.
Zelensky's Response So Far
Zelensky, who spoke to Stubb and Store afterwards, said on X that they had told Putin real steps were needed to de-escalate attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities and infrastructure.
He said they also discussed preparations for the November talks.
"There must be peace, de-escalation is needed, and Russia must stop dragging out the war," he said.
Stubb said the war's outcome would directly affect the security of Finland and Norway, both of which border Russia, and of Europe more widely.
"Ending the war requires direct discussions," he said.
Zelensky did not, in the reports reviewed, accept the Moscow invitation. His public response focused on de-escalation and on the Abu Dhabi preparations, not on traveling to Moscow.
A Moscow Invitation Ukraine Has Rejected Before
This is not the first Moscow-only offer, and Ukraine has rejected the format before.
In September 2025, Zelensky rejected a similar Putin invitation to talks in Moscow, saying he could not visit the capital of a country that shells Ukraine on a daily basis, in an interview with ABC News.
"He can come to Kyiv. I cannot go to Moscow when my country is under missile attacks every day. Putin understands this," Zelensky said at the time.
Putin, speaking in Vladivostok that same month, repeated the invitation he had made during a visit to China, called Moscow the best place for a meeting, and said the safety of the guests would be guaranteed to 100%.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has also called a meeting in Moscow unacceptable, and Zelensky has suggested the invitation may be a tactic to delay meaningful negotiations rather than facilitate them.
The fighting also continued as the diplomacy moved. Officials in Kyiv said the South Bridge was hit in overnight attacks on the city that included 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones, per Reuters reporting on Tuesday's strikes.
What It Means for Markets
Peace-talk headlines, even unlikely ones, move the war trade in both directions, and traders should separate a scheduled Abu Dhabi technical meeting from an unscheduled Moscow summit.
Defense names are the first read on any de-escalation signal. LMT, RTX and NOC tend to soften when credible talks advance and firm when they stall.
Energy runs the other side of the headline through XLE, as any path toward sanctions relief or renewed Russian supply would pressure oil, while failed talks keep the risk premium in place.
Grain and agriculture markets are also sensitive to Black Sea shipping and export talks, which have been part of earlier Ukraine negotiation rounds.
The Bottom Line
Putin's condition has not changed: direct talks, but only in Moscow, with his security assurance.
Zelensky's position has not changed in public either. He wants de-escalation and is preparing for Abu Dhabi in early November, and he has previously said he cannot go to Moscow while Ukraine is under daily missile attack.
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