Could Zelenskyy and Putin meet within 30 days?

The possibility of a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was discussed by delegations from Kyiv and Moscow during talks in Istanbul this week.

These details were revealed on Friday by Zelenskyy, who has been pushing for discussions with Putin and has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to also attend.

Trump is seemingly desperate for the warring parties to strike a deal, having vowed to end the conflict within 24 hours of his return to the White House.

"We need an end to the war, which probably begins with a meeting of leaders," Zelenskyy said. "In talks with us, they have begun to discuss it. This is already progress toward some kind of meeting format."

At a fresh round of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday, Kyiv proposed holding the talks by the end of August.

The timing could align with a deadline set by Trump, who earlier this month gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal with Ukraine or face sweeping sanctions. Buyers of Russian exports were also threatened by Trump with 'secondary tariffs' unless an agreement was reached by early September.

So what are the prospects of Zelenskyy and Putin meeting for only the second time?

Zelenskyy is clearly keen. Moscow knows it is needed - eventually - but appears more flexible with the timeline.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday: "A high-level meeting can and must put a definitive end to the settlement. Is it possible to go through such a complex process in 30 days? Well, that is obviously unlikely." 

When did Zelenskyy and Putin last meet?

If and when the pair do come face-to-face, it would be the first time since 2019 when they were on the same stage when the two sides discussed ending fighting in Ukraine's eastern region of the Donbas, where Ukrainian troops had been up against Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

Zelenskyy and Putin traveled to Paris in December 2019 for the Normandy Format Summit – a forum set up by French, German, Russian and Ukrainian diplomats after the conflict in the Donbas began.

It came only seven months after Zelenskyy, who had never held political office, became Ukrainian President. The pair sat opposite each other at a round table to discuss how they would end the conflict that had led to thousands of deaths.

The summit did produce some agreement, including "ceasefire support measures" before the end of 2019 and release of prisoners of war. It was deemed an important step towards peace, but Russia and Ukraine continued to disagree on issues such as troop withdrawal and elections.

More recently, talks on ending the conflict have yielded few results. The sides have radically different positions and Ukraine has accused Russia of sending low-level officials with no real decision-making power.

Turkish talks on the table?

Russia has called on Ukraine to effectively cede four regions that Moscow claims to have absorbed – a demand Kyiv has called unacceptable.

Ukraine says it will never recognize Russia's claims over occupied territory – including Crimea, which the Kremlin has controlled since 2014.

Maybe there's hope from the help of Türkiye. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is keen on resolving the conflict and wants to host discussions between Zelenskyy and Putin.

Erdogan said on Friday he may speak to his Russian and U.S. counterparts this week to see if a leaders meeting in Istanbul was possible.

"By holding calls with Putin and Trump within this week, we will see if we can bring these leaders together in Istanbul, that is our effort."