US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin speak to reporters after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, 16 July 2018. Photo: EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV
Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov announced on Thursday that Moscow and Washington had agreed on a meeting between Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump “in the coming days”, following a visit by Trump’s special envoy to the Russian capital on Wednesday, state news agency TASS has reported.
Ushakov said the meeting could go ahead next week, though preparations were ongoing. The location has been “approved”, but will be announced later, he added.
Should Trump meet with Putin, it would mark the first in-person meeting between a US president and the Russian leader since 2021, when then-President Joe Biden held a summit with Putin in Geneva. Trump has held at least six phone calls with Putin since taking office in January, but has recently voiced growing frustration over Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian cities despite repeated US calls for a ceasefire.
Trump suggested on Wednesday that a summit between him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin could take place soon, following what he described as a “highly productive” meeting in Moscow between his special envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian leader.
However, while Witkoff touched upon the idea of a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump and Zelensky during talks with Putin at the Kremlin on Wednesday, Moscow had left the proposal “without comment”, Ushakov said.
Writing on Truth Social after Witkoff’s visit to the Russian capital, Trump said that “great progress was made” and that he had spoken by phone with Washington’s “European allies” to brief them on the outcome. “Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come,” Trump wrote.
According to The New York Times, during that call Trump informed European leaders — including Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte — of his intention to meet with Putin as soon as next week, before following up with trilateral talks with the Russian leader and Zelensky.
Speaking to reporters at the White House later on Thursday, the US president was coy when asked whether Witkoff had made a “breakthrough” with the Russian leader, but said there was a “very good prospect” that he would personally meet with both Putin and Zelensky in the near future.
In his nightly address to Ukrainians on Wednesday, Zelensky confirmed he had spoken to Trump and several European leaders about the situation and that Russia seemed “more inclined towards a ceasefire” following Witkoff’s meeting with Putin.
“The pressure is working,” Zelensky said. “But the key is to ensure they don’t deceive anyone in the details — neither us, nor the United States.”
The Kremlin offered few details of the meeting, saying only that Witkoff and Putin had discussed the “Ukrainian crisis” and the prospects for US-Russia “strategic cooperation” in what it called “useful and constructive” talks.