FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28, 2019.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
U.S. President DonaldTrumpplans tomeetin person with Russian President VladimirPutinas early as next week, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the plan.
Trumpthen plans tomeetwithPutinand Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiytogether, the newspaper reported, adding that the plans were disclosed in a call with European leaders on Wednesday.
“The Russians expressed their desire tomeetwith PresidentTrump, and the President is open tomeeting with both PresidentPutinand President Zelenskiy. PresidentTrumpwants this brutal war to end,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, responding to the report.
It was not immediately clear where or when suchmeetings would take place.
Earlieron WednesdayTrumpacknowledged that he spoke with European leaders after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff’s“highly productive”meeting withPutinin Russia.
While noting that “great progress” was made during themeeting,Trumpwrote on Truth Social: “Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come.”
Trump, who promised to end Russia’s war in Ukraine on “day one” during his presidential campaign, has held several phone calls withPutinand has met with Zelenskiy since returning to the White House in January.
However, in recent weeks, he has become increasingly frustrated with Moscow over a lack of progress towards ending the three-year conflict.As a result of the frustration,Trumpset a Friday deadline for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions.
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