Trump to meet Putin only if Putin agrees to meet Zelensky, NYP says
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump (collage of RBC-Ukraine)
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, will meet with the Russian President Vladimir Putin only on the condition that he agrees to meet with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, The New York Post reports.
"Putin must meet with Zelenskyy for the meeting (with Trump - ed.) to occur. No location has been set," an unnamed White House official told the outlet.
Possible meeting of Trump, Zelenskyy, and Putin
Yesterday, August 6, the US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow, where he held a meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
US President Donald Trump called the meeting productive. According to the NYT, he intends to meet with Putin next week and afterward organize a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Today, Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov stated that Russia and the US have agreed to hold a meeting between Trump and Putin in the coming days, and have even determined the location. The Kremlin's leader himself said the meeting could take place in the UAE.
According to Zelenskyy, various potential meeting formats at the leaders’ level were discussed yesterday — two bilateral formats and one trilateral.
At the same time, Trump told allies he assumes Putin might agree to peace talks in exchange for discussing territorial exchanges.
