Trump to Meet With Zelensky, Putin Only When Peace Deal is ‘Final’

US President Donald Trump has said that he will only meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin after a deal to end the war has been finalized.

Writing on Truth Social late on Tuesday, Trump said: “I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages.”

Trump also revealed that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, would meet with Putin in Moscow while Army Secretary Dan Driscoll would meet again with Ukrainian officials “in the hopes of finalizing this Peace Plan,” presumably in the coming days.

“I will be briefed on all progress made, along with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles,” Trump added.

The US president celebrated the “tremendous progress” of his team in carving a path to peace in Ukraine and appeared to deny speculation that Russia had authored the controversial initial 28-point plan that was revealed last week.

“The original 28-Point Peace Plan, which was drafted by the United States, has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides, and there are only a few remaining points of disagreement,” he said.

It came after Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s security council, said on Tuesday that he hoped to arrange a meeting between Zelensky and Trump in the US “at the earliest suitable date” before the end of this month.

Other Topics of Interest

Syrsky: Russian Maps Show False Advances to Please Top Command

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief says Moscow distorts frontline reports, while Kyiv tracks battlefield developments in real time.

Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak also told Axios on Tuesday that he hopes Zelensky’s visit “will take place as soon as possible... because it will help President Trump to continue his historical mission to end this war.”

The desire to hold an in-person meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders stemmed partly from the fact that Zelensky had hoped to negotiate on territorial concessions with Trump face-to-face, Yermak said.

Trump is set to depart the White House for his Florida estate on Tuesday afternoon local time, and is not due back in Washington until late on Sunday.

Speaking after a traditional turkey pardoning ceremony in the Rose Garden earlier on Tuesday, the US president said that parties were getting “very close” to a possible settlement.

He said that there were a “few remaining points of disagreement” following successive rounds of negotiations but expressed hope that “I think we’re going to get there.”

CBS News, citing a US official, also reported on Tuesday that Kyiv had effectively accepted the deal, with only a few minor details left to finalize.

Umerov confirmed that a “common understanding” had been reached on the proposal following consultations with US counterparts, but stressed that final steps still lie ahead.