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US President Donald Trump could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as next week, Reuters reported citing a White House official, as the U.S. continued preparations to impose secondary sanctions.
Such a face-to-face meeting would be the first between a sitting U.S. and Russian president since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021, some eight months before Russia launched its military operation against Ukraine.
Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have not met since December 2019.
The New York Times reported that Trump told European leaders during a call on Wednesday that he intended to meet with Putin and then follow up with a trilateral involving the Russian leader and Zelenskiy.
"There's a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon," Trump told reporters.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the president is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelenskiy."
The details emerged following a meeting on Wednesday between Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff that Trump described as having achieved "great progress" in a Truth Social post, although later said he would not call it a breakthrough.