U.S. and Russia agree to hold Putin–Trump meeting ‘in the coming days,’ Kremlin says

Russia and the U.S. have agreed to hold a bilateral meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump “in the coming days,” Russian president aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Thursday.

“We’re now beginning concrete preparations together with our American colleagues,” state media quoted Ushakov as saying.

According to Ushakov, the meeting could take place as early as next week, though it’s not yet clear how long the preparations will take. He said the location has already been agreed upon but will be announced later.

Ushakov also said that during talks with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff “raised the idea” of a three-way meeting between the presidents of Russia, the U.S., and Ukraine, but Moscow did not respond.

The proposal for a meeting between Putin and Trump came from the Russian side, according to sources cited by U.S. media. The two reportedly discussed the idea during Putin’s meeting with Witkoff.

Following those talks, Trump told European and Ukrainian leaders that he wanted to meet with the Russian president first and then arrange a trilateral meeting with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to The New York Times.

Speaking to reporters on August 6, Trump said he planned to hold talks with Putin and Zelensky “very soon.”