Trump to Press Putin on Ukraine Peace Deal in Possible Meeting Next Week

President Donald Trump told European leaders he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next week. 

This followed a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Zelenskyy said he spoke with Trump on Wednesday. 

“European leaders were on the call, and I am grateful to each of them for their support. We discussed what was spelled out in Moscow,” he told European leaders. “Ukraine will definitely defend its independence. We all need a lasting and reliable peace. Russia must end the war that it itself started.”

The expected Trump-Putin meeting was reported by several news outlets, including The New York Times and Fox News. 

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met Wednesday with Putin. Trump said on Truth Social that “great progress was made” from that meeting. 

“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’s post continued. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Last month, Trump said he would impose “very severe” tariffs on Russia if the country did not reach a peace deal with Ukraine in 50 days. But as Russian attacks continued, on July 29, Trump scaled it back to 10 days, meaning the deadline is this Friday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy. President Trump wants this brutal war to end.”