By Kevin Liptak, Anna Chernova and Catherine Nicholls, CNN
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP / Sputnik / Mikhail Klimentyev
Analysis: A day after US President Donald Trump told European leaders he intended to meet soon with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, gaps have emerged in how Washington and Moscow are characterising a potential summit.
While the Kremlin claimed on Thursday (Russia time) a meeting next week was all but agreed to, US officials suggested nothing had been finalised - including the format, date or location for talks.
If the meeting does go ahead, it would be the first held between the leaders of the two countries since 2021, when Putin met former President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump made clear in his phone call on Wednesday with the Europeans - which included the British prime minister, German chancellor and Finnish president - that he intended to meet both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was also on Wednesday's phone call.
Two European officials said the idea of a trilateral meeting caught them by surprise when Trump raised it in the telephone call.
The White House said afterward Trump was "open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky".
But on Thursday, Putin sounded cool to the idea of meeting Zelensky, saying certain conditions would first need to be met.
While Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said a meeting between Trump and Putin could take place as early as next week, and that preparations for it were already underway, he played down the chances of a trilateral including Zelensky, saying Moscow had not responded to the proposal put forward by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
US President Donald Trump, right, last met Russia's President Vladimir Putin during the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. Photo: AFP / Sputnik / Mikhail Klimentyev
Trump wouldn't meet Putin unless he also meets with Zelensky, a US official said on Thursday (US time). That came a day after Trump said there was a "very good prospect" of a summit between him, Putin and Zelensky - though he added that he had been "disappointed" by the Russian president in the past.
Zelensky, meanwhile, appears insistent on a trilateral meeting. Noting in his nightly address that Ukraine's security advisers would discuss the matter with their European and American counterparts later on Thursday, he said that "everyone knows that key decisions in Russia are made by one person. And that this person is afraid of sanctions from the United States of America … it is only fair that Ukraine should be a participant in the negotiations".
Differences have also emerged over who proposed the meeting.
The White House said it was the Russians who "expressed their desire" to meet Trump. However, Ushakov claimed it came "at the suggestion of the American side".
Putin suggested it didn't matter. "Who was the first to say and what, it doesn't matter anymore," he said.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is insisting on a three-way meeting of the leaders. Photo: SERGEI CHUZAVKOV / AFP
As of Thursday, no location had been set for the talks, though Putin said the United Arab Emirates would be a "perfect" option as he was meeting with the leader of the Gulf nation, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Moscow.
Other locations in the Middle East have also been under discussion, people familiar with the matter said. One European diplomat said it was unlikely a meeting would occur in Europe, since Putin wouldn't view a country there as neutral ground.
The idea of a Putin-Trump meeting emerged after Witkoff met Putin for three hours in Moscow on Wednesday. Following the meeting, Trump said there had not been a "breakthrough" between the two men and was also cautious when questioned about the timeline for a deal, saying he has "been disappointed before with this one," in reference to the Russian president.
The Witkoff-Putin meeting, which saw the US envoy visit Russia for the fifth time this year, came after a frustrated Trump imposed a deadline on Moscow, which is due to expire on Friday, to agree to a ceasefire or face tough secondary sanctions, hitting countries that buy Russian oil with a 100 percent tariff.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff Photo: AFP / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
Just hours after the meeting, the US leader announced an additional 25 percent tariff on India as punishment for its imports of Russian oil.
Trump has been attempting to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine since taking office in January, having initially claimed he could end the war within 24 hours.
In the many months since, there has been little progress, with Russia insisting that it wants peace while simultaneously ramping up the scale of its attacks on Ukraine.
Critics have suggested Putin's actions in recent months have been attempts to stall proceedings and buy time for his troops to gain further ground on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly expressed his growing frustration that Putin says one thing, but then does another.
"We had a deal done four times and then you go home and you see (that Russia) just attacked a nursing home or something in Kyiv. So what the hell was that all about?" the US leader said in an interview with the BBC last month.
Zelensky, who spoke to Trump following Wednesday's meeting between Putin and Witkoff, said "it seems that Russia is now more inclined toward (a) ceasefire".
"The pressure on Russia is working. But the main thing is that they do not deceive us in the details. Neither us, nor the United States," the Ukrainian leader said during his nightly video address to the nation.
-CNN
