Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with President Donald Trump in the coming days as the end of Trump’s 10-day peace deadline looms, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters Thursday.
The meeting was suggested by the Russian side to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday, who then relayed the idea to Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Russian and U.S. presidents have not met face-to-face since 2021, when Putin visited former President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland; a time and venue have not yet been publicly announced for the reported Trump-Putin meeting.
“At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was essentially reached to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days, that is, a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump,” Ushakov told reporters, according to Reuters. (RELATED: Witkoff Meets With Putin In Last-Ditch Effort For Peace)
A White House official told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the meeting could take place as soon as the front end of next week.
“No location has been set,” the White House official told the DCNF. “A meeting could occur as early as next week. Putin must also meet with Zelenskyy in order for this to occur.”
Russia has stonewalled peace negotiations in recent months while continuing offensives in Ukrainian territory. Trump grew increasingly impatient with the Kremlin as it dragged its feet on progressing meaningfully toward peace, prompting Trump to threaten “severe” sanctions and tariffs on July 14, initially giving Putin 50 days to come to the table.
However, Trump then shortened his deadline to expire Friday in response to continued resistance from the Kremlin. Putin has insisted that Russia could endure any economic storm caused by Western sanctions and tariffs, arguing they would be functionally no different from measures taken under Biden’s leadership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed cautious optimism on the meetings, saying on X on Thursday that he spoke to officials from both Germany and France regarding the Trump administration’s discussions with Russia.
“Yesterday, various potential formats for leader-level meetings to bring peace were also discussed – two bilateral and one trilateral,” Zelenskyy said on X. “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.”
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
