The White House on Thursday pushed back on claims by the Kremlin that a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin had been agreed to with a location secured.
A White House official told ABC News that no location has been set and that President Putin must meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the meeting with Trump to occur — something the Kremlin has not been willing to commit to so far.
Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov said earlier Thursday that a “meeting between Putin and Trump (will take place) in the coming days,” adding that “work on the summit has now begun,” the Kremlin said.
Ushakov said that White House special envoy Steve Witkoff had raised the idea of a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump and Zelenskyy but that the upcoming meeting would only be between Trump and Putin, the Kremlin said.
Witkoff was in Moscow on Wednesday ahead of Trump’s Friday deadline for Russia to make peace with Ukraine or face severe sanctions.
“The venue of the meeting between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, has been agreed, and the Kremlin will inform about it later,” Ushakov said on Thursday.
TOPSHOT – (FILES) US President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ahead of a meeting in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018. US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin could meet for a summit as early as next week, the Kremlin said on August 7, 2025. The meeting would be the first between a sitting US and Russian president since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021, and comes as Trump seeks to broker an end to Russia’s military assault on Ukraine.
Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
Though no specific location was disclosed, Ushakov suggested that Russia was “many friends who are ready to help us organize such events.”
“One of them is the President of the United Arab Emirates. I think we will decide, but it would be one of the most suitable, quite suitable places,” Ushakov said.
Zelenskyy said Thursday that Ukraine and Europe should be part of talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022 when Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine.
“The war is happening in Europe, and Ukraine is an integral part of Europe — we are already in negotiations on EU accession,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. “Therefore, Europe must be a participant in the relevant processes.”
Zelenskyy said security officials from Ukraine, Europe and the U.S. would be meeting Thursday “to align our joint views.”
“Yesterday, various potential formats for leader-level meetings to bring peace were also discussed — two bilateral and one trilateral,” he added. “Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side.”
A White House official said on Wednesday a bilateral meeting between Trump and Putin could happen as soon as next week.
Trump himself was less committal when asked about the potential for a meeting between him and Putin, saying he’s been “disappointed before” but that there was “very good prospect” of a summit between Putin and Zelenskyy.
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler, David Brennan and Shannon Kingston contributed to this report.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
