Trump plans to meet with Putin and Zelensky next week to end the war

Donald Trump is scheduled to meet in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week and, subsequently, organize a trilateral meeting that would also include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to various media outlets. 

According to a high-level Ukrainian source, the possibility of holding these meetings was discussed during a call between Trump and Zelensky. During that conversation, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the leaders of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Finland reportedly participated. For now, it is not confirmed whether Putin and Zelensky will agree to participate in both meetings.

“The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the president is willing to meet with both President Putin and President Zelensky”, stated Karoline Leavitt, White House spokesperson.

Trump calls his special envoy's meeting at the Kremlin positive. 

This morning, Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, held an in-person meeting with Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow. On his social network Truth Social, Trump referred to the possible meeting with optimism and a positive tone.

“My special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a very productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Significant progress was made!”, announced the president, expressing enthusiasm about the results of the meeting.

Subsequently, the president indicated that he shared details of the dialogue with several European allies: “Afterward, I briefed some of our European allies”. From Moscow, the Kremlin described the meeting between Putin and Witkoff as “constructive and useful”, according to the Russian state agency TASS.

RIA Novosti, another Russian state media outlet, reported that “Putin conveyed some signals to the United States regarding the Ukrainian issue” and added that “corresponding signals were also received from President Trump”, citing official Kremlin sources. 

For Zelensky, the pressure on Russia is working. 

The Ukrainian president, who had a conversation with Trump after the meeting between Witkoff and Putin, was cautious: “It seems that Russia is now leaning more toward a ceasefire”, he noted, adding that the pressure of possible additional economic sanctions on Russia is working. 

In recent months, the U.S. president has tried to open diplomatic space for Putin to return to the negotiating table. However, in recent days, he began to criticize him publicly, suggesting that the Russian leader might be using the talks with Witkoff as a delaying tactic.

As peace talks fail to achieve concrete progress, Trump will continue to express his discontent and will keep discussing the possibility of imposing secondary sanctions on the Kremlin, while at the same time authorizing new arms sales to NATO member countries destined for Ukraine.