Trump to meet Putin 'as early as next week' to discuss Ukraine ceasefire, White House says
by Josef Al Shemary · LBCBy Josef Al Shemary
Donald Trump could meet Vladimir Putin to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine as early as next week, a White House official has said.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The US president has told European allies he plans to discuss a potential ceasefire in Ukraine with the Russian president in person, amid reports that the two leaders could meet next week.
The White House put out an official statement on Wednesday afternoon, saying Russia requested a meeting and Trump was "open to it".
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was pleased with the "great progress" his envoy Steve Witkoff made with Putin in Moscow this week.
"The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the president is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy. President Trump wants this brutal war to end," she said.
This meeting could happen as early as next week, two sources familiar with the matter told the New York Times, while a White House official supposedly confirmed the news to NBC News.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump declared Russia an 'extraordinary threat to the US,' as details of United States envoy Steve Witkoff's meeting with Vladimir Putin emerged.
Wednesday saw Trump roll out the first wave of US sanctions against Putin over Russia's refusal to stop the war in Ukraine and agree 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.
"I have received additional information from various senior officials on, among other things, the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to the situation in Ukraine,’ states the order announced on Wednesday," Trump said.
"After considering this additional information, among other things, I find that the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066 continues and that the actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."
Wednesday saw Zelenskyy speak with Trump over the phone - just hours after he announced the US would impose a 25% tariff on imports from India as a penalty for purchasing Russian Federation oil.
It comes as further details emerged following "constructive" talks between Putin and Witkoff in Moscow, with Trump taking to his social media platform Truth Social to declare the talks "highly productive".
Read more: At least five soldiers shot after gunman opens fire on US army base in Georgia
The meeting came just days before Trump's deadline on a Ukraine ceasefire deal is set to expire.
Earlier in the day, the Kremlin issued a vaguely worded statement focussing on the talks, highlighting that both sides have exchanged "signals" during the talks in Moscow.
"My Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin," Trump said in the post on Wednesday.
"Great progress was made! Afterwards, I updated some of our European Allies," Trump continued.
"Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Mr Trump has threatened Russia with a fresh wave of sanctions if Putin fails to agree to peace with Ukraine in the coming days.
The Kremlin is yet to provide details on Mr Witkoff’s meeting with Putin.
Earlier, Mr Witkoff took an early morning walk through Zaryadye Park, a stone's throw from the Kremlin, with Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's envoy for investment and economic co-operation, footage aired by TASS showed.
Read more: UN warns of 'catastrophic consequences' over Netanyahu's reported Gaza reoccupation plans
Does Trump's nuclear threat to Russia show weakness or strength?
Mr Dmitriev played a key role in three rounds of direct talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in recent months, as well as discussions between Russian and US officials.
The negotiations made no progress on ending the three-year war following Russia's invasion of its neighbour.
Mr Trump has warned “severe tariffs” and other economic measures will hit Russia on Friday if the fighting continues.
Mr Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Mr Putin over Russia's escalating strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine, intended to erode morale and public appetite for the war.
Russia has continued to bombard Ukraine despite Trump’s calls for peace, hitting both residential areas and key infrastructure.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump said "we'll see what happens" regarding his threat to slap tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, which could increase import taxes dramatically on China and India.
"We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow," the US president said.
"We're going to see what happens. We'll make that determination at that time."
Mr Trump said that he has not publicly committed to a specific tariff rate.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday welcomed Mr Witkoff's visit.
"We consider (talks with Mr Witkoff) important, substantive and very useful," he said.
Mr Trump initially gave Moscow a 50-day deadline, but later moved up his ultimatum as the Kremlin continued to bomb Ukrainian cities.