() Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have agreed to a meeting to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine “in the coming days,” a Kremlin official confirmed Thursday.
The leaders could meet as soon as next week. The White House also teased a meeting on a similar timeline, but no details have been announced.
“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,” Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, told reporters, according to the Associated Press.
Trump has also expressed interest in meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has said there’s a “good” chance he could meet with both leaders together in a summit, the New York Times reported. Trump and Zelenskyy spoke over the phone earlier this week.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin on Wednesday and gave “concrete examples” for Russia to come to a peace deal with Ukraine, according to U.S. officials.
Moscow faces a Friday deadline to make progress on a ceasefire, or face economic sanctions. Thursday saw Trump moving the first piece on the board raising tariffs on one of Russia’s main trade partners, India, for their purchases of Russian oil.
Trump and Putin’s in-person meeting would be the first between sitting presidents of Russia and the U.S. since Joe Biden met with Putin in 2021, months before Russia first launched attacks against Ukraine.
