Donald Trump might meet with Vladimir Putin as soon as next week after ‘productive meeting', amid ceasefire deadline
Mr Trump plans to meet with Mr Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the New York Times reported, citing two sources.
The newspaper added that the plans were disclosed in a call with European leaders on Wednesday.
The White House did not immediately respond to the report but earlier on Wednesday Mr Trump acknowledged that he spoke with European leaders after US envoy Steve Witkoff's 'highly productive' meeting with Mr Putin in Russia.
The meeting came two days before a deadline set by Mr Trump for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions.
Mr Trump has been increasingly frustrated with Mr Putin over the lack of progress towards peace and has threatened to impose heavy tariffs on countries that buy Russian exports.
A White House official said that while the meeting had gone well and Moscow was eager to continue engaging with the United States, secondary sanctions that Mr Trump has threatened against countries doing business with Russia were still expected to be implemented on Friday.
No details were provided.
'My Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made!' Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
'Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come.'
A Kremlin aide earlier on Wednesday said Witkoff held 'useful and constructive' talks with Mr Putin on Wednesday.
The two met for around three hours on a last-minute mission to seek a breakthrough in the 3.5-year war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the two sides had exchanged 'signals' on the Ukraine issue and discussed the possibility of developing strategic cooperation between Moscow and Washington, but declined to give more details until Witkoff had reported back to Mr Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed pressure had worked on Russia and Moscow was now more amenable to a ceasefire.
'It seems that Russia is now more inclined to a ceasefire. The pressure on them works. But the main thing is that they do not deceive us in the details – neither us nor the US,' Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
Writing separately on the X social media platform, Mr Zelensky said he had discussed Witkoff's visit to Russia with Mr Trump, adding that he had reiterated Ukraine's support for a just peace and its continued determination to defend itself.
'Ukraine will definitely defend its independence. We all need a lasting and reliable peace. Russia must end the war that it itself started,' Mr Zelensky said, adding that European leaders had joined the call with Mr Trump.
Mr Trump took a key step toward punitive measures on Wednesday when he imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on imports from India, citing New Delhi's continued imports of Russian oil.
No similar order was signed for China, which also imports Russian oil.
The new measure raises tariffs on some Indian goods to as high as 50 per cent — among the steepest faced by any US trading partner.
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