Putin proposed summit with Trump: White House
Why it matters: A White House official said a meeting between Trump and Putin could take place be as soon as next week, but that no location has been set.
Leavitt said only that Trump was "open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky" and "wants this brutal war to end."
Trump told European leaders after the call that he plans to meet Putin next week, and hopes to hold trilateral summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky soon afterwards, the New York Times reports.
Putin has previously proposed the idea of a leader-level summit on Ukraine before backtracking. He has continued to reject Trump's proposals for an unconditional ceasefire.
The other side: Ukrainian officials see the proposal as a diplomatic maneuver aimed at trying to soften Trump's current position towards Russia and ease his frustration with Putin.
It is also unclear whether Putin is willing to hold a trilateral summit with Trump and Zelensky — something the Ukrainian president has been proposing for several months.
Zelensky said in a video on his Telegram channel on Wednesday that "it looks like Putin is more inclined" to agree to a ceasefire and stressed that shows the pressure on Russia is working.
"It is crucial they don't deceive us," Zelensky said.
State of play: Trump sounded his most optimistic note on the conflict in weeks after the Putin-Witkoff meeting, saying "great progress" had been made and further work toward ending the war would take place "in the days and weeks to come."
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