Updated @ 7:08 PM EDT on August 7, 2025
Without needing Putin to meet with Ukraine’s leader, President Trump has stated that he is open to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the conflict in Ukraine.
Earlier, the Kremlin stated that Putin would meet with Trump bilaterally in the next few days, but it rejected a White House envoy’s proposal to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a trilateral setting.
When reporters asked the U.S. president on Thursday if Putin also needed to speak with Zelenskyy, he responded, “No he doesn’t.” He said, “They would like to meet with me, and I’ll do whatever I can to stop the killing.”
Putin and a U.S. leader would meet face-to-face for the first time since 2021, the year before Russia began its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Trump’s deadline of Friday for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine or face a slew of new sanctions and tariffs on Russian energy exports coincided with the summit debate.
Trump said that it depends on Putin when asked if the deadline still holds. “He will have to make the decision. We will listen to what he has to say. He will have to make the decision. “Very disappointed,” Trump remarked.
Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday stating that he will impose an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, indicating that some fresh sanctions were already in place. He warned reporters that more sanctions might be imposed, especially on China, which is one of Russia’s top oil importers along with India.
Putin’s meeting with Trump’s envoy
When Witkoff visited with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian government showed encouraging indicators.
Putin greeted Witkoff with a firm handshake in a video provided by the Kremlin, which claimed the meeting lasted three hours. Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin advisor, called the discussions “constructive” and “useful.”
Ushakov said the notion of a Trump-Putin summit was suggested by the U.S. envoy. He claimed Moscow had “quite a positive view” that it may happen next week, but it would be difficult to predict how long the preparations would take.
Given that the president of that Gulf Arab nation was in Moscow on Thursday, Putin even proposed that the negotiations be held in the United Arab Emirates.
Regarding the possibility of a meeting with Zelenskyy, Putin stated that he had “nothing against that on the whole, it is possible,” but he also noted that the required conditions are still far from being fulfilled.
On social media, Trump also praised the Witkoff meeting as “highly productive,” claiming that significant progress had been made. However, he then informed reporters that there had been no “breakthrough.” He was also cautious about the chances of stopping Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which had lasted for more than three years. “I’ve been disappointed before, with this one,” he stated.
Trump’s frustration
The announcement comes after weeks in which the president has been more and more irritated with Putin for continuing to strike Ukrainian cities in spite of months of peace attempts spearheaded by the United States.
After years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, sparking the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II.
Trump had promised throughout his reelection campaign that he could use his personal connections with Putin, which he had built during his first term, to put an end to the war in “24 hours.” His government expressed support for important Russian demands of Ukraine in overtures to the Kremlin.
However, Trump started to express his annoyance at Russia’s lethal attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. He declared a change in policy in mid-July: The United States would transfer weapons to NATO members in Europe, who would thereafter arm Ukraine.
He also threatened to impose “severe” new economic sanctions on Russia unless it ended the war within 50 days. “Secondary tariffs” on nations purchasing Russian commodities were among them, he said.
Trump extended the deadline to Friday last week.
According to him, the goal is to deprive the Russian war machine of fuel income. However, he asked reporters on Tuesday if additional economic sanctions would force Russia to alter its policy. “You know, they’re wily characters and they’re pretty good at avoiding sanctions,” Trump stated.
Russia shrugs
With the exception of a brief, covert allusion to the American president last week, Putin has mostly refrained from publicly responding to Trump’s warnings.
After visiting a monastery in northwest Russia last Friday, Putin told reporters, “As the saying goes, all disappointments stem from inflated expectations.”
“In order to solve the issue in a peaceful way,” Putin stated, “we need deep conversations, and not in public, but in the calm quiet of the negotiating process.”
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, brushed down Trump’s threat to enforce sanctions by Friday. He claimed that after more than three years of sanctions, Russia’s economy has become mainly “immune” to Western pressure.
Trump warms to Ukraine
Despite his criticism of Russia, President Trump’s relationship with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has significantly improved since their February argument in front of the White House camera.
On the eve of Witkoff’s travel to Moscow, Zelenskyy claimed on social media Tuesday that he had a “productive conversation” with Trump.
“Of course, we spoke about sanctions against Russia,” acknowledged Zelenskyy. “Their economy continues to decline, and that’s exactly why Moscow is so sensitive to this prospect and President Trump’s resolve.”
Zelenskyy also revealed that the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark had reached an agreement to purchase and transfer $1 billion worth of American armaments to Ukraine.
The Netherlands, which values the support at around $500 million, announced that it will provide American missiles and other components for U.S. Patriot air defense systems already in Ukraine. The Ukrainians claim that in order to protect the Patriot batteries against increasing Russian bombings, they urgently need more missiles.
“It appears that Russia is now more inclined to a ceasefire,” Zelenskyy stated in an evening speech on Wednesday. The pressure is effective. However, the most important issue is that neither the United States nor we are misled in the details.
In Moscow, Charles Maynes reported. From Kyiv, Ukraine, Greg Myre provided reporting. Contributions were made by Franco Ordoez from Washington, D.C.
Copyright 2025 NPR
