U.S. President Donald Trump intends to meet in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next week and plans to follow up shortly afterward with a trilateral meeting involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the plan.
During a call with European leaders on Wednesday, Trump said the meetings would include only himself, Putin, and Zelensky, excluding any European counterparts, according to the report.
A person familiar with the call said the Europeans appeared to accept what Trump proposed. However, it remained unclear whether Putin and Zelensky had agreed to the plan, the newspaper noted.
Zelensky took part in the call, which also included leaders of Britain, Germany, Finland and NATO, along with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, according to the report.
Trump said on Wednesday in a post on Truth Social that Witkoff, who was in Moscow, had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Everyone agrees this war must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come, he added.
In a post on social media platform X, Zelensky confirmed that he held discussions with Trump.
Our joint position with our partners is absolutely clear, the war must end, Zelensky said. He noted that European leaders were on the call, and he is grateful to each of them for their support. The discussions reportedly addressed terms previously outlined in Moscow.
On the same day, Trump vowed more secondary sanctions for Russia.
Trump said on July 29 that his 10-day "deadline" for Russian government to end the conflict with Ukraine is in effect.
Russia has "10 days from today" to reach a ceasefire agreement, Trump told reporters on his flight back to Washington following his visit to Scotland. "Otherwise, we're going to put on tariffs and stuff," he warned.
Trump's current deadline for Russia to complete the peace talks is Aug 8.
Trump proposes trilateral talks with Putin, Zelensky to end Ukraine war: media report
