WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Alliance News): US President Donald Trump has said he is willing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war even if Putin has not first held talks with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
The comments mark a shift from Trump’s earlier position that a Putin–Zelensky meeting was essential before any US–Russia summit.
Trump has given Moscow until Friday to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire or face fresh US sanctions, but when asked if the deadline still stood, he offered no clear answer. “It’s going to be up to [Putin],” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin was ready to attend a summit with Trump “in the coming days,” but effectively ruled out Zelensky’s participation.
The Russian president has suggested the United Arab Emirates as a possible venue, though Washington said no date or location had been confirmed.
If held, it would be the first face-to-face meeting between sitting US and Russian leaders since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in 2021. Trump and Putin last sat down in 2019 at the G20 summit in Japan.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has pressured Moscow to end its more than three-year military campaign in Ukraine.
Three previous rounds of Russia–Ukraine talks in Istanbul have failed to produce progress.
Zelensky insists Ukraine must be involved in any negotiations. In his evening address Thursday, he called it “only fair” that Kyiv take part and urged European leaders to be included in potential peace talks.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in Moscow on Wednesday and proposed a three-way meeting with Zelensky, but the Kremlin leader appeared to dismiss the idea.
Putin said “certain conditions” must be created first, which he claimed were still far from being met.
Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022, with millions displaced and large areas of eastern and southern Ukraine devastated by bombardment.
