Kremlin says Putin agreed to Trump meeting ‘in the coming days’
LONDON — The Kremlin on Thursday said Russia President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, though a specific date or location has yet to be announced.
Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov said that a “meeting between Putin and Trump (will take place) in the coming days,” adding that “work on the summit has now begun,” the Kremlin says.
Ushakov said that White House special envoy Steve Witkoff had raised the idea of a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but that the upcoming meeting would only be between Trump and Putin, the Kremlin said.
“The venue of the meeting between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, has been agreed, and the Kremlin will inform about it later,” Ushakov said.
Witkoff met with Putin on Wednesday ahead of Trumps’ Friday deadline for Moscow to make peace with Ukraine or face severe sanctions.
Trump, on social media, suggested the meeting between Witkoff and Putin was “highly productive.”
“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,” Trump wrote.
Just last month, Trump said he would impose additional economic measures — including secondary sanctions on Russian fossil fuel export customers, the largest of which are India and China — if Putin failed to agree to a ceasefire by Aug. 8.