Kremlin says Putin and Trump will meet soon, Zelenskiy seeks European role in peace settlement
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump talk during a bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
MOSCOW/KYIV - Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet in the coming days, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday, in what would be the first summit between leaders of the two countries since 2021.
The announcement came a day after Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, held talks with Putin in search of a breakthrough to end the Ukraine war, now in its fourth year.
Trump has threatened new sanctions against Russia and countries that buy its exports from Friday if there is no deal. On Wednesday he imposed higher tariffs against India for buying Russian oil, and it was not clear if he would announce further steps once his Friday deadline expires.
"At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was essentially reached to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days, that is, a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump," Kremlin aide Ushakov said.
"We are now beginning concrete preparations together with our American colleagues," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
Ushakov said a summit venue had been agreed, but would be announced later. Putin was holding talks on Thursday with the president of the United Arab Emirates, which sources have previously suggested as a possible venue.
There has been no summit of U.S. and Russian leaders since Putin and Joe Biden met in Geneva in June 2021. Russia went to war in Ukraine in February 2022, citing threats to its own security and plunging relations into deep crisis. Kyiv and its Western allies cast the invasion as an imperial-style land grab.
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Trump has moved to mend relations with Russia and try to end the war, although in his public comments he has veered between admiration and sharp criticism of Putin.
Russia's main stock market index MOEX gained as much as 5% on the news, its highest level in two months. The rouble hit a two-week high against the U.S. dollar and China's yuan.
"Russian stocks are soaring. Investors hope that the (Trump-Putin) meeting will be a step towards normalizing the geopolitical situation," Alfa Bank analysts said in a note.
A White House official also said on Wednesday that Trump could meet Putin as soon as next week.
The New York Times reported that Trump told European leaders during a call on Wednesday that he intended to meet with Putin and then follow up with a trilateral involving the Russian leader and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Ukraine and European leaders have long held concerns that Trump, who has voiced sympathy with some of Russia's demands, could align with Putin to force a deal on Zelenskiy that would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv.
Zelenskiy spoke on Thursday with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and posted on X: "The war is happening in Europe, and Ukraine is an integral part of Europe – we are already in negotiations on EU accession. Therefore, Europe must be a participant in the relevant processes."
He said the war must end with a "dignified peace", and whatever settlement was reached would shape the security landscape of Europe for decades to come.
Zelenskiy said various possible bilateral and trilateral formats had been proposed.
"Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side," he added.
'MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL'
Ushakov said Trump's envoy, Witkoff, had raised on Wednesday the possibility of a Trump-Putin-Zelenskiy meeting but the Russian side had left this proposal "completely without comment".
"We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing for a bilateral meeting with Trump and we believe the main thing is for this meeting to be successful and productive," Ushakov said.
He said the Putin-Witkoff meeting had been businesslike and constructive. "It was noted again that Russian-American relations can be built according to a completely different, mutually beneficial scenario, significantly different from how they have developed in recent years," Ushakov said.
Under the Biden administration, which imposed heavy sanctions on Russia over the war, Russia had described relations with Washington as "below zero". Under Trump, both sides have spoken of the possible re-establishing of lucrative commercial ties.
Pro-Kremlin war blogger Yuri Podolyaka, posting after the Putin-Witkoff talks, said the Russian leader had played a "masterful diplomatic game".
"It seems that Vladimir Putin has managed to spin Trump in a 'carousel of negotiations'," he posted on his blog, which has more than three million subscribers.
Trump announced on Wednesday an additional 25% tariff on Indian imports, to come into force on August 28, citing New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil. He also said he may announce similar further tariffs on goods from China, another big buyer of Russian oil.
Russia and India stressed their commitment to a "strategic partnership" in bilateral security talks in Moscow on Thursday, and Interfax news agency quoted Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval as saying that New Delhi was looking forward to a visit from Putin by the end of the year. REUTERS
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