Trump says he’ll meet with Putin on Ukraine war “as soon as we can,” amid low hopes for Ukraine-Russia talks

David Hunter
5 Min Read
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Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – President Trump said Friday that he will move to establish conversations immediately with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as he can, after Putin chose to omit Peace speaks between Russia and Ukraine In Türkiye.

“I think it’s time for us to do it,” Trump told journalists while involving a four -day visit to the Middle East. Later, he told reporters on Air Force One, who undertook the return trip to Washington, which could call Putin soon.

“He and I will meet, and I think we will solve it or maybe not,” Trump said. “We will know it. And if we don’t solve it, it will be very interesting.”

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, in Abu Dhabi

President Trump attends the US Business Council in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 16, 2025.

Waleed Zein/Anadolu/Getty


The president reiterated that he was surprised by Putin’s decision to omit the conversations that take place on Friday in Türkiye. Putin didn’t want to go because he’s not there, Trump said.

The meetings between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations were launched in Istanbul on Friday, although Putin sent a lower level delegation. This caused accusations of Ukraine and its European partners that Moscow was not really interested in a negotiated resolution to war.

After the meetings concluded, Vladimir Medinsky, who directed the Russian delegation, said in a statement that the two countries agreed that “in the next few days,” they will celebrate a large -scale exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war for each side. Hey also said that Russia has “task notice” or the application of Ukraine of direct conversations between the heads of state, and that each side “would present its vision of a possible fire.” Once the detailed contours are presented, the negotiations will continue.

Trump said he would hold a meeting with Putin, “as soon as we can configure it.”

“I would leave here and leave,” he said, and pointed out that daughter Tiffany simply cools to her first child. “I want to see my beautiful grandson.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenskyy agreed to participate in conversations While Trump pressed for leaders to find a solution to war, in progress from the large -scale invasion of Russia in February of Ukraine. But Putin rejected the call to meet face to face with Zenskyy.

Trump has pressed both parties to quickly reach an agreement to end the war. Zenskyy agreed an American plan for an initial arrest of 30 days to hostilities, but Russia has not registered and has continued to attack the objectives within Ukraine.

Russian drones hit civilian companies near Sumy

Firefighters extinguish a fire in a plastic dishes damaged by a Russian drone attack on May 15, 2025, in Valyka Chernechchyna, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine.

Oleksandr oleksiieko/kordon.media/global images ukraine/getty


“It wasn’t, and I understand it,” Trump said Friday about Putin’s decision to jump the conversations in Istanbul. “We are going to do it. We have to do it. Five thousand young people are being killed every week on average, and we will.”

The president of the United States told journalists on Thursday that a meeting between him and Putin was crucial to break the dead point.

“I don’t think anything happens, whether you like it or not, until he and I meet,” Trump said. “But we will have to solve it because too many people are dying.”

Speaking to journalists in Moscow on Friday, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that any meeting between Putin and Mr. Trump would have to be “well prepared”, but said that such an encounter was really necessary in Russia’s opinion, since “a serious conversation about international problems is needed, including the Ukrainian crisis.”

If the conversations in Istanbul fail to progress, Zenskyy said Friday that there should be a “strong reaction”, since it would be clear, in his opinion, that Russia has no interest in finishing the war.

Contributed to this report.

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