The White House has said that United States President Donald Trump is “open” to the idea of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In remarks on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Russian officials had expressed interest in meeting with Trump.
Leavitt did not say when or where such a meeting could take place, but The Associated Press quoted an anonymous White House official saying the meeting could happen within a week.
“The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the president is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Leavitt told members of the press following reports in The New York Times that Trump could meet with Putin in Russia as soon as next week.
While hosting Apple CEO Tim Cook in the Oval Office later that day, Trump himself was asked about the possibility that Zelenskyy and Putin might agree to a three-way summit. Trump answered vaguely but favourably.
“Well, there’s a very good prospect that they will, and we haven’t determined where, but we had some very good talks with President Putin today. And there’s a very good chance that we could be ending the round, ending the end of that road,” Trump said in somewhat rambling remarks.
“ There’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon.”
However, when pressed whether a ceasefire deal was on the horizon, Trump expressed less optimism.
“I’ve been disappointed before with this one,” he replied.
The US president has previously said that he is committed to helping bring the war in Ukraine to an end. He initially promised to stop the conflict on “day one” of his presidency, but has struggled to make progress. The statement comes after US envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow to speak with Russian officials earlier today.
In a social media post, Trump said Witkoff held a “highly productive” meeting with Putin and that “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,” he added.
The New York Times reported that Trump intends to meet first with Putin before later setting up a meeting that would also include Zelenskyy.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a TV interview that the US now has a better understanding of what conditions would be required for Russia to end the war.
“For the first time perhaps since this administration began, we have some concrete examples of the kinds of things that Russia would ask for in order to end the war,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” adding that questions of territory would be a key part of any deal.
The news agency AFP reported that Trump also discussed the possibility of such a meeting during a phone call with Zelenskyy, citing an anonymous Ukrainian source. That call is also said to have included NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the leaders of Britain, Germany and Finland.
Trump has recently mulled steps to further increase pressure on Russia, which he has accused of not being sincerely interested in ending the war. Such steps could include heightened US sanctions.
