Trump is ‘open’ to in-person meeting with Putin, followed by trilateral meeting with Zelensky — FT

Update: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday that Donald Trump is “open” to meeting Vladimir Putin as well as Volodymyr Zelensky. Leavitt did not indicate if Putin had agreed to a trilateral meeting or say where such a meeting might take place, the Financial Times reported.

In a call with European leaders on Wednesday, Donald Trump disclosed his plans to meet in person with Vladimir Putin as soon as next week. According to The New York Times, Trump “plans to follow up shortly afterward with a meeting between himself, Mr. Putin, and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine,” though it’s unclear if Russia’s president has agreed to this meeting. 

At the time of this writing, neither Kremlin officials nor the White House press office have commented on news reports of President Trump’s plans. The call with the leaders of the U.K., Germany, and the NATO secretary general came after a visit to Moscow by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin for several hours.

For months, the Zelensky administration has pushed for a direct meeting with Russia’s president. However, Putin’s spokespeople have insisted that such a meeting would be premature unless Ukraine agrees to Russia’s terms of surrender. Putin has also repeatedly questioned Zelensky’s legal legitimacy as Ukraine’s president.