Meeting with Donald Trump Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin could be held as early as next week, a top Kremlin aide said Thursday there was a deadline for the US president to show progress in ending the war in Ukraine.
According to Russian national media Ria Novosti, preparations for the meeting are already underway, and how long they spend “it’s hard to say,” but the meeting will take place next week.
If the meeting goes on, it will be the first time between leaders of both countries since 2021 when Putin met former President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland. Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
On Wednesday, Trump said the two leaders could meet “quickly” and discuss the possible war in Ukraine.
Putin said Thursday that the UAE could be a “appropriate” place for the conference.
Earlier in the day, Ushakov, former Russian ambassador to Washington, said that although he has already agreed, he has not confirmed where it will happen, according to the RIA.
He reduced the possibility of a trilateral talks between Putin, Trump and Ukrainian President Voldimi Zelensky.
Putin suggested that he “doesn’t oppose anything” with Ukrainian leaders, but that “specific conditions must be met.”
Zelensky said on Thursday that “various potential forms of leader-level meetings to bring peace,” including “two bilateral (conferences) and one trilateral.”
“Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side, when it ends the war,” he said in a social media post.
Witkov and Putin met for three hours in Moscow on Wednesday, but Trump later said there was no “breakthrough” between the two men. He was also cautious when he said he was “disappointed earlier by this” when asked about the timeline of the transaction.
Witkov’s fifth visit to Russia this year came after Trump, which is due to expire on Friday, agreeing to a ceasefire or facing severe second sanctions and clashing with a country that buys Russian oil with 100% tariffs.
Just hours after the meeting, the US leader imposed an additional 25% tariff on India as a punishment for Russian oil imports.
Since taking office in January, Trump has been trying to mediate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, initially claiming that the war could be ended within 24 hours.
Since then, there has been little progress in months. Russia claims it wants peace while increasing the scale of its attacks on Ukraine.
Critics have suggested that Putin’s actions have lost lawsuits in recent months and are an attempt to buy time to gain further status on the Ukrainian battlefield.
Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly expressed his frustration that Putin would say one thing, but he would do another.
“We’ve done four deals, and you go home and see (Russia) attack a nursing home or something. So, what the hell was that?” the US leader said in an interview with the BBC last month.
Speaking to Trump following Wednesday’s meeting between Putin and Witkov, Zelensky said on Wednesday that “Russia appears to be heading for a ceasefire.”
“The pressure on Russia is working. But the main thing is that they don’t deceive us with details. There is no us or the US,” the Ukrainian leader said in a nightly video address to the country.
This story has been updated with additional details.
