Diplomatic efforts to arrange a direct meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin remain stalled as of mid-May 2026, with both leaders conditioning any summit on prior agreement on core issues such as territorial control and security guarantees. Putin has stated he would only meet Zelenskyy in a third country after experts finalize a comprehensive peace treaty, while Zelenskyy has pressed for an earlier face-to-face encounter to advance negotiations and has rejected territorial concessions or talks in Moscow. US-mediated trilateral talks in Geneva and Abu Dhabi earlier this year have paused amid shifting attention to the Middle East, leaving lower-level diplomatic channels active but without breakthrough on a direct leader-level dialogue. Upcoming developments hinge on whether bilateral or third-party facilitation can bridge these sequencing differences before any fixed market resolution date.