Donald Trump to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine within days but it’s not yet clear if the Russian leader will meet Ukraine’s Vlodymyr Zelenskyy as part of the summit, ITV News’ Correspondent John Ray reports.
The Kremlin has said a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could happen in the coming days.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the two sides are working on setting up the meeting and that there will be further announcements later on Thursday.
“At the suggestion of the American side, it has been agreed in principle to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days,” he said.
“We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive.”
Putin said that the United Arab Emirates is one possible site for the meeting, after meeting with the country’s president earlier on Thursday.
It comes hours after Trump said he could meet Putin as soon as next week, as part of US efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday – a meeting Trump said was “highly productive” in which “great progress was made”.
Trump has not met Putin since his return to office in January. While it would be a significant milestone in the three-year war and bolster Trump’s attempts to be seen as a global peacemaker, there’s no promise that this meeting could end the conflict.
But Trump admitted he had some reservations, telling reporters on Wednesday, “I’ve been disappointed before with this one.”
A meeting between the two presidents has not been scheduled yet, and no location has been determined.
Trump also announced that there could be a meeting with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, telling reporters, “There’s a very good prospect that they will meet.”
Zelenskyy has been willing to meet face-to-face with Putin to end the conflict, but Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea.
Trump has met Zelenskyy several times this year, including a heated meeting in the Oval Office in February, which led to the Ukrainian president leaving early after Trump told him, “You’re gambling with World War 3.”
The US president hasn’t met with Putin yet in his second term, but he met with him five times during his first presidency.
Witkoff’s meeting with Putin on Wednesday came days before the White House’s Friday deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine, or face 100% secondary tariffs.
Secondary tariffs would target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy, potentially including nations that rely on Russia for oil and natural gas, like China and India.
Relationships between Trump and Russia have been growing strained. On August 1, Trump announced he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be “strategically positioned” near Russia, after the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, made “inflammatory” remarks online.
He has also expressed increasing frustration with Putin over Russia’s escalating strikes on civilian areas in Ukraine. The intensified attacks have occurred even as Trump has urged the Russian leader in recent months to relent.
President Zelenskyy announced that he had spoken to Trump on Wednesday, alongside other European leaders.
“It seems that Russia is now more inclined to agree to a ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the pressure on Moscow “is working,” without elaborating.
Zelenskyy stressed it was important to make sure Russia does not “deceive us or the United States” when it comes to “the details” of a potential agreement.
Kyiv proposes that Ukraine and its allies soon “talk to determine our position, our common position, and our common view.”
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