Trump and Putin set to meet as early as next week, US allies told

Irish Independent

9 hours ago

The announcement has raised hopes that an end to the conflict could be in sight after more than three years of intense fighting.
After speaking by phone to the American president, Mr Zelensky said he believed Russia was 'now more inclined to a ceasefire'.
The positive signs came during a day of intense diplomatic activity.
Mr Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met in Moscow with Putin, the Russian president, for three hours.
At the same time, Mr Trump intensified his pressure on Moscow with fresh sanctions and declared Russia to be an 'extraordinary threat' to the United States.
Mr Trump said he would hit India with a further 25pc trade tariff over its purchase of Russian oil, a vital source of income for the Kremlin.
In a call with European leaders, Mr Trump set out his plan to meet with Putin as soon as next week, according to the New York Times.
The first meeting would include only Putin and Mr Trump, followed by sessions with Mr Zelensky, and would not include any of their European counterparts.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the meeting plans.
'My special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin,' he posted on Truth Social.
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'Great progress was made! Afterwards, I updated some of our European allies.'
At the same time, a senior administration official said secondary sanctions were still set to be imposed on countries trading with Russia tomorrow.
'The meeting with Russia and special envoy Witkoff went well,' the official said. 'The Russians are eager to continue engaging with the United States. The secondary sanctions are still expected to be implemented on Friday.'
For his part, Mr Zelensky sounded an optimistic note.
'It seems that Russia is now more inclined to a ceasefire, the pressure on them is working,' he said. 'But the main thing is that they do not deceive us in detail, neither us nor the United States.'
Yesterday brought a hectic slew of developments as Mr Trump continues to push for an unconditional, 30-day ceasefire, which would then pave the way for talks to establish a permanent peace deal.
After Mr Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow, Mr Trump issued an executive order imposing tariffs on India and toughening his rhetoric on the threat from Moscow.
'I have received additional information from various senior officials on, among other things, the actions of the government of the Russian Federation with respect to the situation in Ukraine,' Mr Trump said.
'After considering this additional information, among other things, I find that … the actions and policies of the government of the Russian Federation continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.'
The language marked a significant shift from earlier this year, when Mr Trump went out of his way to placate Putin in order to coax him to the negotiating table.
It is not clear what the 'additional information' is and White House officials did not respond to requests for more details.
'I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to impose an additional ad valorem duty on imports of articles of India, which is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,' Mr Trump added in the executive order.
Mr Trump had suggested that Mr Witkoff's meeting with Putin – their fifth – would determine any decision for the US president to follow through on threats to impose tariffs on countries buying Russian energy.
India and China are among the countries buying the most Russian crude oil, which analysts say provides key revenues for Putin to fuel his war machine in Ukraine.
A top Russian presidential aide described the talks as 'useful and constructive'.
'Russia had conveyed signals to the American side on the Ukrainian issue and received corresponding signals from Trump,' Yuri Ushakov told reporters after talks wrapped up.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Kremlin might propose a moratorium on airstrikes by Russia and Ukraine. Although this would offer some relief to both sides, it would fall short of the full ceasefire that Ukraine and the US have been seeking for months.
Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Mr Zelensky, said that a full ceasefire and a leaders' summit were required.
'The war must stop and for now this is on Russia,' he said on Telegram.
Since direct peace talks resumed in May, Russia launched its heaviest airstrikes of the war, while Ukraine has continued to target Russian refineries and oil depots.
Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately striking a gas station to disrupt preparations for winter heating – an attack that Russia claims was targeting military-related infrastructure.
Ukraine's energy ministry said the strike on the station near the Ukraine-Romania border was directed 'purely against civilian infrastructure' and targeting relations with Azerbaijan, the US and European partners.
'If the Russians are allowed to strike at our energy infrastructure and gas routes with impunity, then no infrastructure facility in Europe will be safe,' Ukraine's energy minister Svitlana Grinchuk said.
'Impunity only expands terror. That is why Russia must be held accountable for what it has done.'