‘Pressure on them is working’ Trump and Putin are finally set to meet in person. Here’s what we know.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in person for the first time since Trump returned to office. The meeting would be the first between the leaders of the two countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. News of the planned talks, which was reported by The New York Times and confirmed by the Kremlin, comes just as Trump’s deadline for Moscow to agree to a ceasefire approaches. The situation is developing quickly. Here’s what we know so far.

When will the meeting be?

Trump is aiming for next week, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. On Thursday, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov confirmed that an agreement has been reached for a Trump–Putin meeting “in the coming days” and that it could happen as early as next week, though he said it’s unclear how long the preparations will take.

What’s the venue?

We don’t know yet — but they might. According to Ushakov, a location for the meeting has already been agreed upon but will be announced later. Later on Thursday, Putin said that the United Arab Emirates would be a suitable location for the talks and that both countries have expressed interest in meeting there, according to state media.

Is Zelensky invited?

Not to this meeting. According to the Times, Trump wants to meet with Putin alone first, followed by a meeting with both Putin and Zelensky. Ushakov told reporters that Trump envoy Steve Witkoff “raised the idea” of a trilateral meeting with Zelensky during his talks with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, but Moscow didn’t respond to the proposal.

Tomorrow is Trump’s deadline for Russia to end the war. Will he hit Russia with retaliatory sanctions?

Unclear. On Wednesday evening, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump would decide whether to impose secondary sanctions “over the next 24 to 36 hours.” He added that the president’s decision would be based on “how talks, the work we’re going to be doing over the next couple days, progress.”

Is there any reason to think this will be different from the previous times Trump said a ceasefire was close?

Zelensky seems to think so. After speaking to Trump and several European leaders by phone on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president said that Russia appears “more inclined toward a ceasefire” and that “pressure on them is working.”

Trump, meanwhile, told a reporter who asked whether Putin is “tapping” him along that he “can’t answer the questions yet.” He added, “I’ll tell you in a matter of weeks, maybe less. But we’ve made a lot of progress.”