Trump plans to meet with Putin as soon as next week, New York Times reports
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam November 11, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next week, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the plan.
Trump then plans to meet with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the newspaper reported, adding 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 Trump acknowledged that he spoke with European leaders after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff's "highly productive" meeting with Putin in Russia.
While noting that "great progress" was made during the meeting, Trump wrote 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."
Trump, who promised to end Russia's war in Ukraine on "day one" during his presidential campaign, has held several phone calls with Putin and has met with Zelenskiy since returning to the White House in January.
However, in recent weeks, he has become increasingly frustrated with Moscow over a lack of progress towards ending the three-year conflict. REUTERS
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