President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in person as early as next week, according to multiple reports, just days after a Trump-imposed deadline on Putin to end the war in Ukraine expires.
Trump will meet with Putin and then with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the New York Times first reported, adding that the plans were disclosed in a call with European leaders on July 6.
The White House did not confirm the meeting, but indicated the “Russians” were pushing for a meeting.
“As President Trump said earlier today on TRUTH Social, great progress was made during Special Envoy Witkoff’s meeting with President Putin,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky. President Trump wants this brutal war to end.”
The Washington Post also later reported that a meeting between Trump and Putin would occur.
During a press conference with Apple CEO Tim Cook on July 6, Trump was asked if a summit between Zelenskyy and Putin was slated to occur − a meeting Trump has previously said he would facilitate.
“There’s a good chance there will be a meeting very soon,” said Trump, adding a word of caution.
“I’ve been disappointed before,” he said.
On July 28, Trump announced that he would be giving Russia 10 to 12 days to end its three-year war on Ukraine or face “stiff tariffs.” That deadline falls on Aug. 8.
Trump has threatened to impose “secondary tariffs” of up to 100% on countries that trade with Russia, particularly those in the energy sector. The president signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff on imports from India in retaliation for the country’s Russian oil imports, doubling India’s U.S. tariff rate to 50%. set to go into effect Aug. 7.
Trump’s Aug. 6 move marks the first time the president has deployed his so-called “secondary tariffs” on Russian trading partners.
Trump has grown increasingly impatient with the Russian leader since May, when he said Putin had “gone absolutely crazy” after Russia launched a barrage of 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities a week after he’d had a two-hour chat with Putin, seeking an end to the war.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff met Aug. 6 with Putin in Moscow in an effort by the Trump administration to convince the Russian leader to end fighting in Ukraine ahead of the deadline.
Contributing: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump and Putin could meet as early as next week: Reports
