President Trump has styled himself as not only a deal-maker but as a peace-broker, and he's had some successes along those lines. The one fight he hasn't yet been able to break up is, of course, the Russo-Ukrainian war.
That may be changing. On Wednesday, President Trump announced that he will be sitting down with Russian President Vladimir Putin for face-to-face talks, to be followed by a three-way meeting, also presumably in person, with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. The talks may begin as early as next week.
President Donald Trump intends to meet in person with President Vladimir Putin of Russia as soon as next week, Fox News has learned.
Trump then plans to follow shortly afterward with a meeting between himself, Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.
News of the expected meeting came hours after U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had a "highly productive" meeting with Putin on Wednesday.
"Great progress was made!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Afterwards, I updated some of our European Allies. Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
During their discussion, Putin told Witkoff that he wanted to meet with Trump, who said he would agree if the meeting is tied to a peace deal.
"As President Trump said earlier today on Truth Social, great progress was made during Special Envoy Witkoff’s meeting with President Putin," said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. "The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky. President Trump wants this brutal war to end."
President Trump wants this war to end, and it's a fair certainty that most of the people of Russia and Ukraine want this war to end. The question is this: Does Vladimir Putin want the war to end? President Trump has been trying to put pressure on Putin, and to date, the shooting is still going on.
In mid-July, Trump promised to enforce "very severe" tariffs on Russia if Putin does not enter into a deal with Zelenskyy within 50 days. He then pushed the date up to within 10 days of July 29, forcing the new deadline for Friday.
On Tuesday, Trump walked back the 100% tariff threat amid tough trade talks with India and China.
"We'll see what happens over the next fairly short period of time," he added in response to questions from reporters. "We have a meeting with Russia…We're going to see what happens."
Part of the problem is that the United States doesn't have all that much influence on Russia.
Read More: Russia Backs Off Nuclear Threats and Kneecaps Putin's Attack Dog After Trump's Strong Reaction
Vladimir Putin views Ukraine (and Belarus) as historically Russian territories. He even wrote a book on the topic. Russia's economy is struggling, its population is growing restive, but as long as Putin, the retired KGB apparatchik, is in charge, it's likely that he won't be too willing to give up on taking Ukraine.
As I've been saying and writing for some time, the best Ukraine can probably hold out for is a return to the status quo ante 2022 - Russia keeps the Crimea, the Black Sea port at Sevastopol, and the largely Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine it now holds. It's not the best deal, and it won't be a permanent deal, but it may be the best Ukraine can hope for right now.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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