Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that interest in holding a summit with American Donald Trump is mutual and does not reject a future meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The interest was expressed on both sides,” said the Kremlin chief, who said television did not believe the conditions for a meeting with Zelensky were not in force now.
Putin’s observations were made a day after his Kremlin meeting with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, with whom the Russian leader discussed the situation in Ukraine.
“I have often said that in general, I have nothing against it. This is possible, but for this to happen, certain conditions must be created. Unfortunately, we are still far from it,” Kremlin chief told reporters in his first comments about the US proposal for a trilateral meeting.
About the place of her meeting with Trump, which could take place in the coming days, Putin said Russia has “many friends” interested in helping to organize such an event.
“One of these friends is the president of the United Arab Emirates. I think we will decide later, but this would be one of the most appropriate places,” said in the presence of the leader of the mentioned country, Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, who is on the official visit to Moscow.
Hours earlier, Kremlin’s advisor to international politics, Yuri Ushakov, confirmed that Putin and Trump plan to meet in the coming days.
“Something close to this has been set for next week, but the parts are starting to prepare for this important meeting and it’s hard to predict how many days their preparations will take,” said Ushakov.
The diplomat emphasized that “the meeting venue was also, in principle, agreed” but did not publicly disclose it.
As for a future meeting between the two leaders and Ukrainian President Ushakov made no comments.
Trump, who has talked on six different occasions over Putin since the beginning of the year, had said the day before that there was a “very good chance” that the meeting will occur “very soon”.
Putin has not met a US leader since a summit with Joe Biden in June 2021 in Geneva. The Russian dictator met for the last time with Trump in June 2019 in Helsinki.
