‘I think it’s time for us to just do it’: Trump says he’ll meet Putin soon, Kremlin calls meet ‘essential’ but expects results | World News
After Russian President Vladimir Putin’s no-show at talks in Turkey, US President Donald Trump on Friday said he is preparing to hold direct talks with the Kremlin head as soon as possible, signalling a major diplomatic move amid ongoing war in Ukraine and faltering peace talks in anbul.
Wrapping up a four-day Middle East tour, Trump told reporters, “I think it’s time for us to just do it.” He later added aboard Air Force One, “He and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it or maybe not. At least we’ll know. And if we don’t solve it, it’ll be very interesting.”
Kremlin on Thursday announced that Putin will not to attend the latest round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Turkey — the first direct negotiations between the two sides in over three years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed to the meeting under a US-brokered push for a 30-day ceasefire, but Putin spurned the invitation. Trump, undeterred, said, “He didn’t go, and I understand that. We’re going to get it done. We got to get it done. Five thousand young people are being killed every single week on average, and we’re going to get it done.”
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Trump, who has called for an urgent resolution to the war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, added that meaningful progress would not come without a direct leader-to-leader conversation. “I don’t believe anything’s going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together,” he said.
The Kremlin, for its part, responded positively to Trump’s comments but pointed the need for careful preparation and tangible outcomes. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, “There is no doubt that contacts between President Putin and Trump are important in the context of the Ukrainian negotiations. We, of course, agree with this thesis. The importance of this cannot be overstated.” He added, “A summit must be set up. And it must be results-oriented because a summit is always preceded expert negotiations, consultations, and long and intense preparations.”
Peskov noted that such a meeting is “certainly necessary” not only for US-Russia ties but also for broader international stability. “It is necessary both primarily from the point of view of bilateral Russian-U.S. relations and from the point of view of having a serious conversation at the highest level about international affairs and on regional problems, including, of course, about the crisis around Ukraine,” he said.
Though Putin and Trump have spoken via phone since Trump returned to the White House in January, they have yet to meet in person. Now, with growing urgency over ending Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two, both sides appear to agree that the path to peace may rest on a long-awaited face-to-face meeting.
