Where could Zelenskyy meet Putin? The contender countries that could host the summit

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pursuing direct talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin almost since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin has always refused. But with a recent push from Donald Trump, the possibility of a meeting is closer than ever.

The question now is not only when, but where?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin for the abduction of Ukrainian children limits the choice of location as he risks arrest in any of the court's 125 member states if he steps foot into their territory.

Some of them are ready to make an exception though and have promised not to arrest Putin if he comes for a meeting which could put an end to the war against Ukraine.

Switzerland is a possible option. The country’s foreign minister said the country would be ready to host Putin for any possible peace talks despite the ICC arrest warrant.

Despite its neutral status, Switzerland is a signatory to the Rome Statute that founded the court but Ignazio Cassis said that provided Putin was coming for peace purposes, the country could receive him.

"This has to do with our diplomatic role, with international Geneva as (the European) headquarters of the United Nations," Cassis said.

French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly supports the idea of Geneva as a potential location for the talks following a White House meeting with European leaders on Monday.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker offered his country - also an ICC signatory - as a potential venue, saying Vienna supported any initiative leading to a just and lasting peace that protects Ukrainian and European security interests.

"As proud host of (the) OSCE and many other International Organisations we stand ready to offer our good services," he said in a post on X.

A country in the Middle East could be a solid compromise location.

In March, Saudi Arabia hosted a US delegation for the talks first with Ukrainian and then with Russian officials.

Qatar and the UAE are possible options

Euronews' correspondent in Doha, Aadel Hallem, says despite being a relatively small Gulf state, Qatar has a seat at the international table and is frequently called upon to be a go-to mediator in several international conflicts.

Those mediation efforts include Russia and Ukraine, specifically when it comes to the return of Ukrainian children, forcefully deported to Russia.

Even when it was caught in the crossfire between the US, Iran and Israel in June, where missiles were intercepted in its airspace, Qatar was still relied upon to broker peace and de-escalate tensions. In 2020 Qatar hosted historic talks between US officials and the Taliban, which led to the Doha Agreement and eventually paved the way for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

More recently, Qatar continues to mediate talks between Israel and Hamas, which has led to several temporary ceasefires and delivered humanitarian aid into Gaza. Qatar believes mediation efforts are a core tenet of its foreign policy and a clear indicator of its soft power.

Similar to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates has deliberately shaped its role as a diplomatic broker, a state able to move between rival powers while maintaining credibility with both, says Euronews correspondent in Dubai, Toby Gregory, adding that this strategy has extended directly to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Emirati officials helped arrange exchanges that brought home Ukrainian prisoners of war, along with children taken to Russia. It was a reminder that the Emirates can act where others have limited reach.

At the same time, Abu Dhabi has preserved its dialogue with Moscow. 

Earlier this month, President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan travelled to Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin, a meeting that highlighted the trust both sides place in the relationship.

The only meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin

Since Zelenskyy became president of Ukraine in 2019, his direct communications with Putin have been limited as Russia had already been occupying Ukrainian territory in the east and in Crimea.

The two presidents have had only two phone calls and a single face-to-face meeting, all in 2019.

Zelenskyy and Putin met for the first and only time in Paris, during a Normandy Format Summit, in the presence of the leaders of Germany and France.

Behind closed doors, the two reportedly discussed issues that still remain relevant now, albeit on an even bigger scale; a prisoner exchange and ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

In the spring of 2021, as Russia started massing troops near Ukraine's borders ahead of its full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy offered to meet with Putin "anywhere in Donbas," the eastern region in Ukraine which Russia has been trying to fully occupy and annex for over a decade now.

Putin declined, denying that Russia was a part of the conflict and instead invited Zelenskyy to Moscow. The meeting never happened.

As Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Zelenskyy again called for talks. Putin again rejected any dialogue on a presidential level, sending only a low-level delegation for the first attempted negotiations close to the Belarus border.

Later, after the revelations of Russian forces' mass atrocities in Bucha - Ukraine's government says 458 civilians were killed - and other settlements around Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv hardened its stance on communications with the Kremlin.

Following Donald Trump's return to the White House, Ukraine’s president renewed his push for direct talks with Moscow, now with the support of the US administration.

In May, Zelenskyy made a surprise announcement that he was willing to meet Putin in Türkiye. Ukraine's president even travelled to Türkiye, but Putin didn't appear, instead sending a low-level delegation again.

Actively trying to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow, Donald Trump has insisted that the meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin must take place.

But the format remains unclear. One possibility is they will initially be bilateral, between Zelenskyy and Putin, and then include Trump later.

That format could allow Trump to maintain his position of peacemaker in the case the meeting doesn't bring any tangible results.

According to US media, Trump intends to leave Russia and Ukraine to organise a meeting between their leaders without playing a direct role for the time being, according to administration officials familiar with the situation, taking a step back from the negotiations to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But Trump reportedly told advisers that he does intend to host a trilateral meeting with the two leaders, but only after they have met first.