US President Donald Trump said he could meet with President Vladimir Putin “very soon”, following what he described as highly productive talks in Moscow between his special envoy and the Russian leader.
The potential meeting was discussed in a call between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky that, according to a senior source in Kyiv, included NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the leaders of Britain, Germany and Finland.
“There’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House when asked when he would meet the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.
According to the New York Times and CNN, Trump intends to meet with Putin as soon as next week, followed by a three-way meeting with the Russian leader and Zelensky.
The location of the meeting is unknown. This would be the first US-Russia leadership summit since former president Joe Biden’s meeting in Geneva in June 2021.
“It seems that Russia is now more inclined to agree to a ceasefire; the pressure on them is working. But the main thing is that they do not deceive us or the United States in the details,” Zelensky said on Wednesday evening.
Trump’s phone discussion with Zelensky came after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian leaders in Moscow earlier in the day for talks characterised by the Kremlin as “productive” – with Trump’s deadline to impose further sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine approaching.
“Great progress was made!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that afterward he had briefed some European allies.
“Everyone agrees this war must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come,” he said.
Minutes later, however, a senior US official stated that “secondary sanctions” were still scheduled to be enforced in two days.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Witkoff would return with a ceasefire proposal from Moscow that would need to be reviewed with Ukraine and Washington’s European allies.
He also cautioned about the timing for a Trump-Putin meeting, saying there was “a lot of work ahead,” adding that it could take “weeks maybe.”
Trump, who had said he could end the crisis within 24 hours of taking office, has given Russia until Friday to make progress towards peace or face further sanctions.
Three rounds of talks in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine have failed to reach an agreement on a ceasefire, with the two sides’ demands wildly divergent.
Russia has increased drone and missile attacks on its neighbour, a US and EU partner, while also accelerating its ground advance.
“A quite useful and constructive conversation took place,” Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists after the three-hour meeting with Witkoff.
