Trump will only meet with Putin if he agrees to talks with Zelenskyy

The New York Post reported the information, citing a White House official.

“Putin must meet with Zelensky for the meeting (with Trump - ed.) to occur,” the source told the publication, adding that no location for the meeting has been agreed upon yet.

Today, the Kremlin announced that Russia and the United States have agreed on a meeting between Putin and Trump.

“In fact, the White House had not confirmed a bilateral meeting — nor did he mention it during a press conference Wednesday at which he spoke of a possible trilateral meeting with the U.S., Russian and Ukrainian presidents,” writes NYP.

At the same time, the article adds that the U.S. leader “was not overly optimistic about the prospect of a trilateral meeting” during the briefing. Trump stated that he “had previously been disappointed” regarding Moscow’s promises about achieving peace.

• On August 6, the U.S. President’s special representative, Steve Witkoff, flew to Moscow. He met with the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin; their dialogue lasted about three hours. According to the head of the White House, the meeting was productive.

• The next day, Russia and the U.S. agreed on a meeting between the leaders – Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Later, the dictator stated that the UAE is a likely venue for talks with the U.S. leader, while calling a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy possible, but “still far off.”