Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped to meet alone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the two countries try to work towards peace, but U.S. President Donald Trump keeps saying he needs to be involved in the talks.
Days after Trump met with Putin during a summit in Alaska, Trump met with Zelensky — and several European leaders — at the White House Monday to try to find the best path forward to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. After the meeting, the U.S. president called his Russian counterpart to begin making “arrangements for a meeting” between Putin, Zelensky and himself, Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Putin mentioned wanting a bilateral meeting with Zelensky, but Trump suggested that he be included, a senior administration official told Politico.
When the U.S. president offered to attend a potential Zelensky-Putin meeting, the Russian leader reportedly said: “You don’t have to come. I want to see him one-on-one.”
Trump’s team “started working on that,” the official told Politico. “Steve Witkoff has the assignment to get it figured [out].”
The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment.
Following the Alaska summit Friday, Trump appeared on Fox News’ Hannity, where he emphasized that both Zelensky and Putin “want” the U.S. president to be present for a meeting between them. Then, over the past several days, Trump has continued to push the idea that there should be trilateral meetings.
“I don't know if I trust the two of them in a room alone together. I think it would be better if you are there,” Fox News host Sean Hannity said.
Trump agreed: “They both want me there, and I'll be there. You got to see it out.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who attended Monday’s White House meeting, suggested that Putin had agreed to meet with Zelensky after his call with Trump within the next two weeks - but a date has not yet been set.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state-run channel Rossiya-24 that Russia is open to participating in either a trilateral or bilateral meeting, BBC reported.
"The key point is that these formats are not pursued for the sake of media coverage or evening broadcasts," Lavrov said. "Any contacts involving national leaders must be prepared with the utmost thoroughness.”
Following Monday’s summit, Zelensky declared: “We are ready for a trilateral.”
If the leaders of Russia and Ukraine meet, it would mark the first one-on-one since 2019 in Paris, three years before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a move that launched the war.
Trump touted Monday’s summit as a “very good meeting,” during which the world leaders discussed security guarantees for Ukraine that would be “provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,” according to the U.S. president. Regarding the trilateral meeting, the U.S. president wrote: “Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.”
“We are already working on the concrete content of the security guarantees,” Zelensky said in a social media post Tuesday, hailing Monday’s meeting as “truly a significant step” toward ending the war.
World leaders who attended the meeting also praised the progress that was achieved. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that there was "real progress" and a "real sense of unity."
Merz similarly said "the path is open now" for a temporary ceasefire, but the next steps are "more complicated.”
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