Trump could soon meet Putin in order to end the Ukrainian war, said official

US President Donald Trump could meet in person with Russian president Vladimir Putin as soon as he tried to end the Russian-Ukraine war, a White House official said on Wednesday.

The official warned that a meeting had not been planned and that no location had been determined. The manager was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans.

The White House said Trump was also open to a meeting with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

A meeting between Putin and Trump would be their first since Trump returned to the job this year. This would be an important step in the three -year war, although there is no promise that such a meeting would lead to the end of the fighting, because Russia and Ukraine remain far from their requests.

Trump, comparing to the journalists later at the White House, did not answer questions about a potential place for a meeting, but when he asked him about a summit with Putin and Zelenskyy, said: “There is a very good prospect that they” meet.

He refused to predict how close he was to reach an agreement to put an end to the fighting, saying: “I have already been disappointed with it.”

Before returning to the Oval Office, Trump said he could end the conflict in Ukraine in just 24 hours. More than six months after the start of its new presidential mandate, the war continues.

‘Still many obstacles’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was questioned in an interview on Fox Business on a potential Pump-Putin meeting, said that “many must happen before this can happen.”

Rubio said the United States would have interviews with its European allies and the Ukrainians in the coming days. He said that Trump meets directly with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine would help to conclude an agreement, but said: “We must get close enough to this point so that a meeting as this is productive and valid.”

“Today was a good day, but we have a lot of work in advance,” he said. “There are still many obstacles to overcome.”

The news of a potential meeting with Putin, which was reported for the first time by the New York Times, occurred a few hours after Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Putin in Moscow.

Trump posted earlier on Truth Social than Witkoff “had a very productive meeting” with Putin in which “great progress has been made”.

Look | What is the following after the visit of Moscow of Witkoff?:

To what to expect to follow the American envoy, the ceasefire of Putin talks to Moscow

Marcus Kolga, a principal researcher at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, known as “it is only in significant pressure” that the United States and Russia “will arrive at a significant cease-fire”. This comes after the American special envoy Steve Wtikoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a cease-fire agreement with Ukraine.

Zelenskyy was willing to meet face to face with Putin to end the conflict, but Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea.

Trump met Zelenskyy several times this year, including a controversial February meeting in Washington. Although he has not yet met Putin this year, Trump met him five times in his first mandate.

Trump said earlier Wednesday that he had updated American allies in Europe and that they would work towards the end of the war “in the days and weeks to come.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that “the Russians had expressed their desire” to meet Trump. The Kremlin has not yet commented on potential meetings with Trump.

Witkoff met Putin a few days before the deadline of the White House so that Russia concludes a peace agreement with Ukraine or is potentially confronted with serious economic sanctions which could also strike the countries buying its oil.

The meeting between Putin and Witkoff lasted about three hours, said the Kremlin.

Putin’s foreign adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin and Witkoff had a “useful and constructive conversation” that focused on the Ukrainian crisis and, as a sign of the head to improve relations between Washington and Moscow, “prospect for a possible development of strategic cooperation” between the United States and Russia.

Earlier Wednesday, the same Officer of the White House said that the United States had to impose secondary sanctions against Russia on Friday after a deadline for 10 days that Trump imposed to expire. The White House has not yet published details on sanctions.

Washington has threatened with “serious prices” and other economic sanctions if the murder does not stop.

Pricing

Trump has also threatened to slap prices on nations that buy Russian oil, which could considerably increase importation taxes on China and India. He said on Tuesday that he had not been publicly committed to a particular rate rate and said that his decision could depend on a result of the meeting with Putin.

Trump expressed growing frustration with regard to Putin on the climbing of Russia on the civil areas of Ukraine, intended to erode the morale and the public appetite for the war. The intensified attacks have occurred while Trump has urged the Russian chief in recent months to yield.

Zelenskyy said on Wednesday evening that he and Trump spoke on the phone after Witkoff had met Putin. He said that “European leaders also participated in the conversation” and “we discussed what was said in Moscow”.

“It seems that Russia is now more inclined to accept a ceasefire,” said Zelenskyy, adding that the pressure on Moscow “works” without developing.

Zelenskyy stressed that it was important to make sure that Russia does not deceive us the United States or the United States “with regard to the” details “of a potential agreement. kyiv proposes that Ukraine and its allies “soon speak to determine our position, our common position and our common point of view”.

As of the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, Russian forces struck a leisure center in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, killing two people and injuring 12, two of them, said on Wednesday the regional governor Ivan Fedorov.

The Russian forces launched at least four strikes on the region and initially attacked with powerful sliding bombs.

“There is no military sense in this strike. Only cruelty to intimidate,” said Zelenskyy in an article on Telegram.

Russia has also struck the Ukrainian electricity network and the gas heating and cooking installations, Zelenskyy said, while Ukraine is making preparations for winter. Western analysts and Ukrainian officials say Putin blocks time and avoids serious negotiations while Russian forces push to capture more Ukrainian land.

A Russian offensive that started in the spring and which should continue in the fall progresses faster than last year’s push, but only made slow and expensive gains and could not take big cities.

The first line situation is essential for the Ukrainian forces, but the defenses are not about to collapse, according to analysts.