Russian leader Vladimir Putin will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump “in the coming days,” the Kremlin confirmed Thursday. Trump had issued an ultimatum for a ceasefire by Friday.
“At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was made in principle to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days … a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump,” Kremlin presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters from Russian state media.
The high-stakes bilateral comes after Trump showed signs of increasing frustration with Putin slow-walking ceasefire negotiations for the war in Ukraine. The U.S. president threatened to levy harsh tariffs on Russia and on countries that continue to do business with it in a bid to force Putin to the negotiating table, setting Friday as the deadline for a ceasefire. Trump has already hit India with 50 percent tariffs, citing its continued purchases of Russian oil.
Trump on Wednesday briefed European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his plan to meet with Putin in the coming days, and also floated holding a trilateral with the Russian president and Zelenskyy. In his evening address Wednesday, Zelenskyy said “Russia now seems to be more inclined toward a ceasefire,” adding “the pressure is working.”
But, Zelenskyy cautioned, “the key is to ensure they don’t deceive anyone in the details — neither us, nor the United States.”
In July, Trump gave Putin 50 days to come to a truce agreement with Ukraine, and then last week shortened the deadline to Aug. 8, citing frustrations with his Russian counterpart’s unwillingness to cooperate. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff held a meeting with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, as Trump’s deadline approached.
Ushakov said a venue for the Trump-Putin meeting had been agreed upon “in principle,” but did not specify where it would take place.
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