US President Donald Trump has announced the plans regarding a highly-anticipated meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On Wednesday when asked by the reporters about the status of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Trump said a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting would be arranged “very soon” while citing progress in US mediation to end the year’s long conflict in Europe.
“There’ll be a meeting set up very soon,” Trump said, referring to a possible meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.
“We’re making a lot of progress with Russia-Ukraine,” he added.
Trump’s remarks come when trilateral peace negotiations have been planned to take place in early November involving representatives from three countries, Russia, Ukraine and the US. However, the definite date or venue has not been announced yet for the proposed meeting.
On Tuesday, President Putin reportedly showed his willingness to open direct talks with Zelensky in Moscow. The remarks did not come directly from Putin, but a Russian presidential aide said that Mr Putin gave assurances to the Ukrainian president that if he comes, he will be provided with all necessary conditions including security arrangements.
“Our boss reiterated that if Zelensky truly wishes to hold direct negotiations, he should come to Moscow, where all necessary conditions – including those regarding his safety – will be provided for him,” Russia’s state-run news agency Tass said, citing Mr Ushakov.
Earlier, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb held a rare phone call with Putin and told him that Mr Zelensky was interested in holding direct talks with the Russian leader.
However, no such confirmation has yet come from the Kyiv side.
