US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) said he is ready to meet Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader refuses to sit down with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a bid to end the conflict in Ukraine that began in 2022.
"No, he doesn’t. No," said Trump when asked if Putin would need to meet with Zelenskyy to secure a meeting with him.
Trump's comment comes hours after the Russian leader said he hopes to meet with the US President next week, probably in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, the White House has said that the two sides are still working on details about a meeting between Trump and Putin.
Kremlin backs Trump's remark on meet with Zelenskyy
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has also said that it is not aware of a planned meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. It, however, said that a meeting between Trump and Putin has been agreed, and would take place in "coming days". "At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement in principle was made to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days," said Putin's foreign policy advisor Yury Ushakov.
Trump likely to be first US President to meet Putin since Ukraine war
If Trump goes on to meet Putin, then it would be the first face-to-face meeting between a sitting US President and his Russian counterpart since the beginning of the Ukraine war. The last time a sitting US President met Putin was in June 2021 when Joe Biden held a summit with the Russian leader in Geneva.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a move that was widely criticised by the US and its Western allies.
Ukraine, however, has criticised the Russian invasion and sought help from its European allies to end the war. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has alleged that Russian attacks have killed thousands of civilians, despite calls from Trump to stop it.
"Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same bold approach from the Russian side. It is time to end the war," said Zelenskyy in a statement.
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