 "‘Putin-Trump meeting agreed’: Kremlin aide says ‘preparation on, announcement later’")
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump are expected to meet in the coming days, Russian foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov said.
Ushakov told state news agency TASS on Thursday (August 7) that preparations for the meeting are currently underway, with the venue already finalised. “An announcement will be made a little later,” he said.
White House says Russia requested a meeting with Potus
Earlier, The White House on Wednesday said that Russia has requested a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, and that Trump is open to the idea.
This comes after a report by the Associated Press, which cited a White House official saying a meeting between the two leaders could happen as early as next week .
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the president is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky.”
According to a report from AFP, citing a senior Ukrainian source, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the possibility during a phone call that also included Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, as well as the leaders of Britain, Germany, and Finland.
Witkoff’s meet with Putin
The call came shortly after US envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with President Putin in Moscow earlier the same day.
‘Well, there is a very good prospect’: Trump on Zelenskyy-Putin summit
However, Trump was more cautious when questioned by reporters at an Oval Office event about the potential meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy.
“Well, look, I don’t want to say, I’ve been disappointed before with this one,” he said. “Well, there’s a, a very good prospect that they will,” Trump said. “And we haven’t determined where, but we had some very good talks with President Putin today. And there’s a very good chance that we could be ending the, ending the round, ending the end of that road. That road was long and continues to be long. But there’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon.”
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