The official 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 both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. If Trump meets Putin, it would be their first meeting since he returned to office in 2025 after winning the presidential polls in 2024. The meeting of two leaders would be a significant milestone in the 3-year-old war, though there’s no promise that such a meeting would lead to the end of the fighting since Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on their demands.
Trump, who appeared before reporters later at the White House, didn’t answer questions about a potential location for a meeting, but when asked about a summit with Putin and Zelenskyy, said, “There’s a very good prospect that they will” meet. The president declined to predict how close he was to reaching a deal to end the fighting, saying, “I’ve been disappointed before with this one.”
Threat of US sanctions
Earlier on Wednesday, the same White House official said the U.S. was still expected to impose secondary sanctions against Russia on Friday, after a 10-day deadline that Trump imposed was to expire. The White House has not yet released details about the sanctions.
Washington has threatened “severe tariffs” and other economic penalties if the killing doesn’t stop. Trump has also threatened to slap tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, which could increase import taxes dramatically on China and India. He said Tuesday he hadn’t publicly committed to any particular tariff rate and indicated that his decision could depend on an outcome of the meeting with Putin.
Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Putin over Russia’s escalating strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine, intended to erode morale and public appetite for the war. The intensified attacks have occurred even as Trump has urged the Russian leader in recent months to relent.
Rubio lowers expectations for a meeting
Responding to a query on a potential Trump-Putin meeting in an interview with Fox Business, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “A lot has to happen before that can occur.” Rubio said Washington would be having talks with its European allies and the Ukrainians over the next few days. He said a Trump meeting directly with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine would help close an agreement, but said, “We’ve got to get close enough to that point so that a meeting like that will be productive and worth doing.” “Today was a good day, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead,” he said. “There are still many impediments to overcome.”
News of a potential meeting with Putin, which was first reported by The New York Times, came hours after Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow. Trump had posted earlier on Truth Social that Witkoff “had a highly productive meeting” with Putin in which “great progress was made.”
Would work toward an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, says Trump
Trump said earlier Wednesday that he had updated America’s allies in Europe and that they would work toward an end to 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 with Trump. The Kremlin has not yet commented on any potential meetings with Trump.
Witkoff met with Putin days before the White House’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil. The meeting between Putin and Witkoff lasted about three hours, the Kremlin said.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Putin and Witkoff had a “useful and constructive conversation” that focused on the Ukrainian crisis and, in a nod toward improving relations between Washington and Moscow, “prospects for possible development of strategic cooperation” between the United States and Russia.
