Putin and Trump to Meet in Coming Days, Kremlin Confirms

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in the coming days, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, Orda.kz reports, citing The Insider.

Preparations for the meeting are supposedly underway. The location has been agreed upon and will be announced later.

No Comment On Potential Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting

Ushakov also addressed reports of a potential trilateral meeting involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He noted that the idea was brought up by Steve Witkoff during talks at the Kremlin but was not specifically discussed:

Earlier, The New York Times reported that Trump plans to meet with Putin as early as next week, with the possibility of holding trilateral talks with Putin and Zelenskyy afterward.

Incidentally, following Trump's initial claim of a meeting with Putin, Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that unresolved issues — especially territorial disputes — still stall a ceasefire, and that a trilateral summit hinges on substantial diplomatic engagement in the coming days.

Rubio also underscored the need for concessions by both Russia and Ukraine.

 Well, I don’t know about timing in terms of that.  That’s – the specific timing of it is not discussed.  I think what we have is a better understanding of the conditions under which Russia would be prepared to end the war.  We now have to compare that to what the Ukrainians and our European allies, but the Ukrainians primarily, of course, are willing to accept,  Rubio said.

Expert Skepticism

Meanwhile, expert Tatiana Stanovaya, a Senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and founder and head of R.Politik, has offered a cautious assessment of the developments, suggesting that while there is growing anticipation around the meetings, expectations should remain measured:

Breaking news is emerging: Trump is expected to meet Putin in the coming days, and the two may even meet Zelenskyy immediately afterwards. There is a sense of anticipation — some see this as a potential turning point in the conflict, possibly even the beginning of the end of the war. I would be happy to be proved wrong, but this is not how I see it. I do not observe any substantive change in Russian tactics towards Trump or Ukraine.

According to Stanovaya, Putin has again floated the idea of halting the war — though only under conditions that amount to Ukrainian capitulation.

These "conditions," she argues, essentially demand that Ukraine stop resisting, the West cease arms deliveries, and Kyiv accept Russia’s terms.

The Russian side can frame this in a dozen different ways, creating the impression that Moscow is open to concessions and serious negotiation. It has been doing so for some time, but the core position remains unchanged: Russia wants Kyiv to surrender.

She further noted that while Trump and Putin may present a sense of progress, any outcome is likely to echo past failed initiatives:

We could then see a version of Helsinki 2—not the one Moscow wants, but something akin to the 2018 meeting. It is also conceivable that Putin would agree to meet Zelenskyy, as he has said repeatedly, though only if there is a prearranged agenda and predetermined outcomes, which remains difficult to imagine.

Stanovaya concluded that another breakdown in negotiations is likely, with the conflict continuing in various forms:

Perhaps there will be another agreement, something like Istanbul 2, which would collapse long before even minimal implementation, just as Minsk 2 did. This would be a negative outcome for Ukraine, but it would not deliver Ukraine to Putin on a plate either, at least not in the way he wants it. The conflict, alternating between open warfare and periods of simmering tension, appears likely to persist for the foreseeable future.