President Trump said Thursday that he would meet with Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader will not meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, in comments that suggested Washington and Moscow could soon hold a summit. Trump's comments followed a statement from Putin earlier in the day that he hoped to meet with Trump next week, possibly in the United Arab Emirates. But the White House was still working through the details of any potential meetings, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. When asked if Putin would need to meet with Zelensky in order to secure a meeting with the US, Trump said: "No, he doesn't. No." A White House official told the AP earlier Thursday that a US-Russian summit would not happen if Putin did not agree to meet with Zelensky, but the official later said it only made the summit less likely.
A meeting with Trump would be a coup for Putin, who has spurned previous offers of a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky and has been isolated globally since the invasion. Putin's announcement came on the eve of a White House deadline for Moscow to show progress toward ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine or suffer additional economic sanctions.When asked Thursday whether his Friday deadline would hold, Trump said of Putin: "We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed." Speaking of possible direct talks with Zelensky, Putin said he has mentioned several times that he was not against it, adding: "It's a possibility, but certain conditions need to be created" for it to happen.
Ukraine fears being sidelined by direct negotiations between Washington and Moscow, and Zelensky said he had phone conversations with several European leaders Thursday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity. Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, earlier brushed aside the possibility of Zelensky joining the summit, something the White House was ready to consider. "We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive," Ushakov said. Zelensky said European countries must also be involved in finding a solution to the war on their own continent. "Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same bold approach from the Russian side. It is time to end the war," he added.
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