US President Donald Trump said a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would take place “very soon.”
“A meeting will take place very soon, and I believe we will be able to make significant progress,” Trump told reporters, referring to diplomatic efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has been ongoing for nearly five years.
On Sunday, Zelensky said a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian representatives would take place in November under US mediation, with the aim of restarting peace talks that have been stalled since the beginning of the year.
“We are ready to talk. If it is a territorial issue, it must be discussed at the leaders’ level. The other issues concern technical groups. So, all of this can be discussed in November,” the Ukrainian president said in an interview with state television.
Two days earlier, Russia had announced that such a meeting was planned for November in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as part of the latest US efforts to revive peace negotiations. The talks have been suspended since the US-Israeli war against Iran began in late February.
Direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives also took place in 2025, but failed to produce a resolution to the conflict, as both sides continued to insist on their respective conditions.
The Kremlin has so far ruled out the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky anywhere other than Moscow, according to TCH.
Russia is rejecting any halt to military operations before a substantive agreement is reached, arguing that a ceasefire would allow Kyiv to rearm.
