White House envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly will hold a video conference on 7 August with senior officials from Ukraine, Finland, France, Germany, Italy and the UK to brief them on his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Axios reported, citing its sources.

The briefing comes as President Trump has shifted toward discussing a potential summit with Putin after initially moving toward tougher sanctions on Russia. Trump held a call on 6 August with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders, telling them about the possibility of a meeting between him and Putin, followed by a trilateral summit including Zelenskyy.

That call left confusion in Kyiv and other European capitals, with officials uncertain whether US policy was changing or whether sanctions would still be announced 8 August as Trump had planned.

Ukrainian officials expressed concern that Putin’s proposal for a meeting with Trump represents an attempt to reach agreements with the US directly about ending the war without Ukraine or European powers having input, Axios reported.

Putin said on 7 August that there was mutual interest in a summit with Trump, but the Kremlin cast doubt on the US proposal for a trilateral summit with Zelenskyy.

The development follows Trump’s announcement on 6 August that he would double tariffs on India to 50%, effective 27 August, over the country’s purchases of Russian oil. The White House said further penalties on Russia would be announced o 8 August, though officials have not indicated whether China – another major customer of Russian oil – would be targeted.

The Trump administration stated that a meeting between Trump and Putin would occur only if Putin also meets with Zelenskyy.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Witkoff’s planned conference call.