Trump to hold talks with Putin even if Russian leader refuses to meet Zelenskyy

The US president was asked by a reporter if Putin would need to meet with Zelenskyy to secure a meeting with the US, and replied: "No, he doesn't. No."

Putin had earlier said he hoped to meet Trump next week, possibly in the United Arab Emirates. But the White House was still working through the final details, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Putin's announcement came on the eve of a White House deadline for Moscow to show progress towards ending the three-year war in Ukraine or suffer additional economic sanctions.

On Wednesday, Trump declared Russia an 'extraordinary threat to the US', seeing him roll out the first wave of US sanctions against Putin over Russia's refusal to stop the war in Ukraine and agree to a ceasefire deal.

Signing an executive order in response to the "threat", the US president attempted to use his trade policy to strong-arm Russia into stopping the war with Ukraine.

Asked on Thursday if his deadline for Friday would hold, Trump said: "It's going to be up to [Putin]. We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed."

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He also touched on killings that have continued on both sides and added, "I don't like long waits. I think it's a shame."

Just a few hours earlier, a White House official told the Associated Press that a US-Russian summit would not happen if Putin did not agree to meet Zelenskyy, but the official later said it only made it less likely.

Speaking of possible direct talks with Zelenskyy, the Russian president said he has mentioned several times that he was not against it, adding: "It's a possibility, but certain conditions need to be created."

It is understood Putin only wants to meet Zelenskyy when a deal is close to being agreed between their delegations.

Zelenskyy had earlier written on X: “Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side.”

He added that talks between them had been in “two bilateral and one trilateral” format, as he demanded that Europe be involved in efforts to end the war.

Ukraine fears being sidelined by direct negotiations between Washington and Moscow, and Zelenskyy said he had phone conversations with several European leaders on Thursday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity. European countries have pledged to back Ukraine for as long as it takes to defeat Russia's invasion.

The meeting would be the first US-Russia summit since 2021, when Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva. It would be a significant milestone towards Trump's effort to end the war, although there is no guarantee it would stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace.

Months of US-led efforts have yielded no progress on stopping Russia's invasion of its neighbour. The war has killed tens of thousands of troops on both sides and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.

Western officials have repeatedly accused Putin of stalling in peace negotiations to allow Russian forces time to capture more Ukrainian land. He has previously offered no concessions and said he will accept a settlement only on his terms.