Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to meet with Donald Trump, a Kremlin aide said, as the American president scrambles to make good on his long-overdue promise to end the war in Ukraine.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, said the agreement was for a meeting “in the coming days” and could take place as soon as next week. Trump, who promised to end Putin’s war in “24 hours“ of returning to office, has spent the first seven months of his second term unsuccessfully attempting to sway the Russian leader with both shifting threats and public pronouncements of trust in him.
A White House official told the Associated Press that no location has yet been determined for the meeting, and that Washington is still expected to impose sanctions on Russia on Friday in accordance with the deadline Trump set. Trump gave Putin an ultimatum to accept a ceasefire in Ukraine by then, or face new penalties.
The upcoming meeting will be the first between the Russian and American presidents in four years, the last being Joe Biden’s meeting with Putin in Geneva.
But despite the breakthrough, Putin has so far refused to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the pair still yet to meet face-to-face since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ushakov confirmed that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, had “raised the idea of a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump, and Zelensky.”
Although Moscow is yet to formally comment on the proposals, a White House official told the Daily Beast that Putin must agree to meet with Zelensky for the meeting between Trump and Putin to occur.
Zelensky, meanwhile, has expressed that he wants to personally engage in peace talks with the Russian leader, saying the war must be ended “as soon as possible with a dignified peace.”
“Yesterday, various potential formats for leader-level meetings to bring peace were also discussed – two bilateral and one trilateral,” Zelensky posted on X on Thursday. “Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side. It is time we ended the war. Thank you to everyone who is helping.”
Trump has repeatedly tried to insert himself into the Russia-Ukraine conflict since the start of his second term, bragging on the campaign trail about his supposed ability to bring the fighting to a conclusion quickly.
His efforts have so far been unsuccessful, though, with Trump growing increasingly irate as Putin continues to defy his threats. Zelensky, who Trump berated in an Oval Office ambush in February, has also expressed dismay at some of Trump’s attempts to pressure Putin.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for further comment.
