‘Very Good Prospect’ – Trump Plans Back-to-Back Putin and Zelensky Summits

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, US President Donald Trump said there is a “very good prospect” for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “very soon” to end the war in Ukraine.

He did not specify a location or date for the trilateral talks, but said he had “very good talks” with Putin earlier in the day.

Trump also declined to call the day’s developments a “breakthrough.” He instead framed the effort as a long-standing process to stop the fighting, which he called a “terrible situation.”

“There are thousands of young people dying, mostly soldiers, but also, you know, missiles being hit into Kyiv and other places,” Trump said, adding that he feels an “obligation” to end the conflict even though there are no American troops on the ground.

He reiterated his claim that the war “would have never started” on his watch, blaming the previous administration. “This was not my war,” he said. “This is Biden’s war.”

Other Topics of Interest

Ukrainian Missile Campaign Now Reaches Across Half of Russia

According to a Bloomberg analysis, the expansion marks a shift from earlier phases of the war, when missile alerts were largely confined to Russian regions bordering Ukraine.

Trump also referenced the US imposing a 50% tariff on oil from India, a major purchaser of Russian oil, and suggested similar tariffs on China “could happen.”

He said the tariff on India may have played a role in the day’s productive talks with Russia.

Trump reportedly outlined the summit schedule during a call with top European leaders on Wednesday, the sources said. 

The meetings would include only Trump, Putin, and Zelensky – with no European counterparts present.

It remains unclear whether either Zelensky or Putin has agreed to the plan, according to the sources, speaking to The New York Times. 

The call included British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, US Vice President J. D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Trump’s special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff.

Zelensky joined the same call and later posted on X that he had a conversation with Trump that reiterated the US’s goal of ending the war immediately. 

“Our joint position with our partners is absolutely clear – the war must end. And it must be done honestly,” Zelensky posted on X.

Trump confirmed that Witkoff held a multi-hour meeting with Putin in Moscow earlier Wednesday, though he made no mention of his own planned summits.

“Great progress was made!” Trump wrote on TruthSocial after the meeting. “Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come.”

State Department officials confirmed the potential upcoming summits in comments to the press after the Putin-Witkoff meeting on Wednesday afternoon. 

“The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky,” officials said. “President Trump wants this brutal war to end.”