A face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will happen “at the appropriate time,” the Kremlin said on Sunday.
Why It Matters
Trump has steered the White House toward a rapprochement with the Kremlin, watched with apprehension by most of the U.S.’ allies and many domestic lawmakers.
While the Republican leader has indicated he believes Putin and his senior officials could be “dragging their feet” over the ceasefire deal Trump has committed to brokering, he has consistently flattered the Kremlin leader and established a markedly different tone in negotiations with Moscow and then Kyiv.
MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday that a meeting between the two leaders “will take place at the appropriate time,” but stressed thorough preparations would need to be put in place beforehand.
“The presidents expressed their political will that it should take place, including doing so publicly,” Peskov said in remarks reported by Russian state media.
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff—who has emerged as the main contact broker with Moscow officials—met Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday in a bid to move on sluggish negotiations on a ceasefire deal. Witkoff has visited Russia twice since January, and remarked last month: “I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy.”
A Kremlin readout of the Friday meeting said Putin and Witkoff discussed “aspects of the Ukraine crisis settlement.” Russian state media reported the meeting lasted roughly four and a half hours.
The Kremlin rejected a U.S. proposal—to which Ukraine agreed last month—for a 30-day ceasefire, and made its consent to a partial truce in the Black Sea hinge on sanctions relief.
“Russia has to get moving,” Trump said in a statement posted to his Truth Social site on Friday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously said the president was “frustrated” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin.
Kremlin aide and the chief of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev, traveled to Washington for negotiations earlier this month.
Russian state media reported that Peskov said relations between Moscow and Washington were developing under Trump, but damage done to ties during Joe Biden‘s administration remained.
The Biden White House was strident in its condemnation of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and was the single-most important country for Kyiv’s supply of military aid. Communication between many of Ukraine’s backers and Russia was cut off over the majority of the current war.
The details of a possible ceasefire agreement that would satisfy both Russian and Ukrainian demands remain murky.
Keith Kellogg, Trump’s Russia and Ukraine envoy, on Friday said he had not proposed a partitioning of Ukraine when speaking with British newspaper The Times for an interview published earlier that day.
“I was speaking of a post-cease fire resiliency force in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Kellogg said in a post to X, formerly Twitter. “In discussions of partitioning, I was referencing areas or zones of responsibility for an allied force (without U.S. troops),” Kellogg added.
The Times reported Kellogg had proposed a “reassurance force” led by British and French troops west of the Dnieper River, with Ukrainian forces and a demilitarized zone between these NATO forces and Russian troops in the east.
Britain and France are leading a so-called “coalition of the willing,” a collection of countries backing Ukraine mulling over how to provide security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. But much of the strategy hinges on a “U.S. backstop,” which Washington has been reluctant to give.
“Our objectives are to reassure, support and protect Ukraine to ensure that any peace settlement secures against the risk of future Russian aggression,” London and Paris said in a joint statement on Friday.
British Defense Minister John Healey fired back at remarks from the EU‘s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, after she suggested there was little clarity on the “coalition of the willing” and its role in maintaining a ceasefire agreement.
“The different member states have different opinions and the discussions are still ongoing,” Kallas said.
The plans are “well developed” with “clear objectives,” Healey told reporters.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump said of Russian leader Vladimir Putin last month: “We’ve always gotten along well.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen how quickly the U.S. negotiating teams will be able to secure any further progress on a ceasefire deal.