A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump has been agreed, a Kremlin official said Thursday, and it could possibly take place next week at a venue that has been decided “in principle.”
“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, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Next week is the target date for a summit, Ushakov said, while noting that such events take time to organize and no date is confirmed. The possible venue will be announced “a little later,” he said.
He also played down the possibility of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joining the summit meeting to discuss ending Russia’s 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor, which the White House said Trump is ready to consider.
“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,” Ushakov said.
A meeting between Putin and Trump would be their first since the Republican president returned to office this year. It would be a significant milestone in thewar, though there’s no promise such a meeting would lead to the end of the fighting, since Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on their demands.
Western officials have repeatedly accused Putin of stalling for time in peace negotiations to allow Russian forces time to capture more Ukrainian land. Putin has in the past offered no concessions and will only accept a settlement on his terms.
It was not clear whether Trump’s Friday deadline for the Kremlin to stop the killing in Ukraine still stood.
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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Amelia Thomson-Deveaux contributed from Washington.
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