President Donald Trump announced Friday he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon, as the White House continues to press for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump told reporters during a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan he will meet with Putin “very shortly,” and said the details of the meeting, including its location, could be announced later Friday.
The Kremlin said on Thursday a meeting between the two leaders would occur “in the coming days,” and Trump has privately told European counterparts he planned to meet with Putin in person.
But Friday’s announcement officially opens a new avenue for negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Trump has increasingly expressed displeasure with Putin in recent months, with what he sees as efforts to prolong the war.
“My instinct really tells me that we have a shot at it,” Trump said on Friday of the chances the two sides reaching an agreement.
Trump had set Friday as a deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine or else face secondary sanctions from the U.S. On Wednesday, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in which “great progress was made,” the president said on social media afterwards.
On Thursday, Trump said he would not force Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet as a requirement for a Trump-Putin meeting, contradicting a previous statement from the White House.
The meeting would mark the first U.S.-Russia bilateral meeting since former President Joe Biden met with Putin in 2021, months before Russia launched its extensive military campaign against Ukraine.
