US President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday his readiness to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin even if the latter does not agree to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. When asked by a reporter in the Oval Office whether Putin was required to meet Zelensky first, Trump replied, “No, he doesn’t have to do that, no.” He added, “They want to meet me, and I will do my best to stop the killing.” This statement came shortly after Moscow announced a “preliminary agreement” to hold a meeting between Putin and Trump “in the coming days,” excluding a trilateral summit including Zelensky, who demands direct negotiations with his Russian counterpart. According to the Russian president, the “conditions” are not yet ready for a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian president. Trump indicated on Wednesday the possibility of holding a meeting “very soon” with the Russian president.

This would be the first meeting between the US and Russian presidents since Trump’s return to the White House in January. The White House spokeswoman told News Nation that “we are studying the details of potential meetings and will announce them in due course,” adding, “Trump wants to meet Putin and Zelensky because he wants to end the war in Ukraine.” The last direct meeting between Trump and Putin was in 2019 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan, while the last meeting between the Russian and US presidents dates back to June 2021 when former President Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva. Since the start of Trump’s second term, the White House and Kremlin leaders have spoken several times by phone.

So far, three rounds of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to make any progress towards a ceasefire, as the demands of both sides seem far apart to end the conflict that has lasted more than three years. Trump set a Friday deadline for Russia to reach an agreement with Kyiv, under threat of imposing severe US sanctions. When asked on Thursday whether this deadline was still in effect, Trump said, “It depends on Putin, we’ll see what he says.”