US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to meet in the "coming days", according to a Kremlin aide.
The development follows Trump’s remark that there was a "good chance" he could soon meet both his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in person to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump has set a deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire or face more sweeping US sanctions. That deadline is set to expire on Friday.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said a summit could possibly take place next week at a venue that has been decided “in principle.”
He brushed aside the possibility of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joining the summit, something the White House had said Trump was ready to consider. Putin has spurned Zelenskyy’s previous offers of a meeting to clinch a breakthrough.
“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, adding that US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s suggestion of a meeting including Ukraine’s leader “was not specifically discussed.”
A potential Trump-Putin summit comes after Steve Witkoff held talks with the Russian president in Moscow on Wednesday. Witkoff has visited Moscow four times previously — each trip followed by renewed optimism from Trump, though none have produced a major breakthrough in peace talks.
Asked at a White House briefing on Wednesday night whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin had agreed to a three-way summit, Trump said there was a “very good prospect”.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that the idea of a trilateral summit had been raised during Wednesday’s talks in Moscow, but Russian news agencies quoted him as saying the option was left “without comment”.
Ushakov also revealed that a location for the Trump-Putin meeting has been agreed, with details to be announced shortly. He said all parties had begun working on the finer arrangements.
Last month, Trump told the media he had been disappointed by Putin’s actions following Witkoff’s previous visits, despite initial optimism after each round of talks.
Expectations for a breakthrough by Friday remain muted, as Russia continues its large-scale air attacks on Ukraine despite Trump’s threat of additional sanctions.
Amid the rising pressure, Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order imposing a 25 percent tariff on Indian imports, citing Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
Russia’s preconditions for peace remain unacceptable to Kyiv and its Western allies. These include Ukraine becoming a neutral state, significantly reducing its military, abandoning its Nato aspirations, and withdrawing troops from four partly occupied south-eastern regions.
The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected Kyiv’s calls for a direct meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
Meanwhile, the US approved a further $200 million in military aid to Ukraine on Tuesday, including support for drone production.
