**Recent diplomatic signals from Moscow have reinforced barriers to a Trump-Putin-Zelensky trilateral summit before 2027.** Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on August 31, 2026, that any such meeting would serve only to finalize an already-reached Ukraine settlement, calling preliminary discussions “absolutely useless” and noting Kyiv’s unwillingness to pursue real negotiations. This followed reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe floated the trilateral idea during an August 25 visit to Moscow, which Russian officials quickly downplayed. Prior efforts have followed a similar pattern without producing results. A Trump-Putin bilateral meeting in Alaska in August 2025 yielded no ceasefire or breakthrough, and subsequent White House sessions with Zelensky and European leaders produced proposals for bilateral Putin-Zelensky talks or a trilateral follow-up that never occurred. Lower-level U.S.-Russia-Ukraine envoy meetings took place in Abu Dhabi and Geneva earlier in 2026 but stalled amid persistent disagreements over territory, security guarantees, and sequencing. Putin has repeatedly conditioned any direct engagement with Zelensky on prior agreement on core terms. With roughly four months remaining before 2027 and no scheduled high-level trilateral format or imminent deal in place, trader consensus at 92.5% “No” reflects the structural requirements Moscow has set, the absence of preparatory progress, and the compressed timeline. Scheduled diplomatic contacts continue at lower levels, yet these have not translated into conditions that would enable the leaders’ joint meeting.