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President Donald Trump has informed European leaders of his intent to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next week, according to a report from The New York Times.
In a post on Truth Social following a call with European officials, Trump said, “My Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made! Afterwards, I updated some of our European Allies. Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The potential meeting follows a visit by Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday.
Aide to the Russian president, Yuri Ushakov, said a meeting had been agreed upon in principle.
“As for Ukrainian affairs directly, at the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was agreed upon in principle to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days, that is, a meeting of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump,” Ushakov noted, according to a Russian to English translation.
“As for the option of a trilateral meeting, which for some reason was discussed yesterday in Washington, this option was simply mentioned by the American representative during the meeting in the Kremlin. But this option was not specifically discussed. The Russian side left this option completely, without comment,” Ushakov noted. “We propose first of all to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with D. Trump and we believe that the main thing is for this meeting to be successful and productive.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Russia expressed interest in a meeting with Trump and that the president is open to engaging with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, she did not confirm any dates.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to temper expectations in an interview with Fox News, saying a meeting next week would depend on how much progress is made. He added that a phone call between Trump and Putin is possible in the coming days.
The White House has maintained pressure on Russia to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine. Washington has threatened to impose stiff economic penalties, including secondary tariffs on nations purchasing Russian oil. China and India could see steep import tax hikes if such measures are enacted.
Rubio said a decision on sanctions could come within 24 to 36 hours. Trump, speaking Tuesday, said he had not finalized any tariff levels and suggested the outcome of the proposed meeting with Putin could influence his decision.
