Russian Media Sees Trump-Zelensky Meeting as Lost Opportunity Amidst Ongoing U.S.-Russia Dynamics

Russian state media and pro-Kremlin outlets have minimized the significance of Monday’s meeting involving U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, and European leaders, asserting that Kyiv and Europe had little impact on U.S.-Russia discussions concerning the conflict in Ukraine.

The White House discussions, organized promptly after President Vladimir Putin’s encounter with Trump in Alaska, convened leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the EU, and NATO to deliberate on strategies for ending the war.

However, Russian media placed greater emphasis on Trump’s interruption of the discussions to speak with Putin, viewing it as more noteworthy than the actual meeting.

On Tuesday, state television opened its broadcasts with the assertion that the Trump-Putin call was productive, while characterizing the meeting with Zelensky and European leaders as one in which «there was hardly any room for smiles.»

The state-run channel Rossia 1 began its news segment with comments from Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov regarding the Trump-Putin call, stating that it aimed to «initiate arrangements» for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.

Rossia 1 quoted Ushakov as saying that both leaders «expressed support for the continuation of direct negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine.»

Similarly, Channel One also highlighted the Trump-Putin conversation in its daytime program, which occurred shortly after the Alaskan summit.

According to Ushakov, Putin and Trump «agreed to maintain close communication on Ukraine and other urgent issues.»

Regarding the White House meeting with Trump, Zelensky, and European leaders, Rossia 1’s reporter commented that «the decisions Western nations will face in the coming days offer little reassurance for either themselves or Kyiv.»

In reference to the unsuccessful February meeting where U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance admonished Zelensky for not expressing gratitude, Channel One noted: “Zelensky seemed so apprehensive about upsetting Trump that he thanked him almost incessantly.”

While TV coverage appeared somewhat subdued, the pro-Kremlin outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets featured a headline reading: “‘At Least They Didn’t Fight’: Ukraine Responds to the White House Talks Outcome,” framing the encounter between Trump and Zelensky.

Komsomolskaya Pravda published an article titled “Zelensky’s Dead End: Trump Went Head-to-Head with [German Chancellor Friedrich] Merz on Ukraine at the White House and Called Putin.”

The article remarked, “In the group photo, everyone looked darker than a thundercloud.”

“Zelensky did manage a few ‘diplomatic’ smiles, but they left a rather disconcerting impression,” it continued.

In the conversations with Putin and during the meeting on Monday, Trump had urged Kyiv to forfeit its claims on the annexed Crimea and reconsider its aspirations to join NATO, two of Moscow’s primary demands.

He also suggested the necessity of discussing “possible territorial exchanges” between Russia and Ukraine.

With 20% of its territory under Moscow’s control, Ukraine has consistently rejected any concessions on its borders.

The state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti released an opinion piece titled “We’ll Have to Go as Far as Lviv: Washington Gives Europe What It Desired,” referencing the city in western Ukraine near the Polish border.

The column, penned by Kirill Strelnikov, asserted that «neither delegations from Brussels nor attempts to alter the course will succeed: serious players [Putin and Trump] have made substantial agreements and will progress together step by step, thwarting any attempts by outsiders—not just to wield influence but even to add extra participants at the negotiating table.”

“If the message from the two leaders goes unheeded, Europe and Kyiv will have to resign themselves to the absence of genuinely generous compromises from Russia,” he warned.

“It is even plausible that, for instance, the Lviv region may strongly desire to reunite with its fraternal nation,” he posited.