Trump: I’ll likely meet Putin before the end of the month

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will likely meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month, as he seeks to strike a deal to end Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Asked by a journalist at his Mar-a-Lago residence whether the two presidents could meet before the end of the month, Trump said, “It’s possible”.

The United States and Russia will name high-level negotiating teams to chart a course to end the conflict in Ukraine, the US and Russia said on Tuesday, following a meeting between delegations from the two superpowers in Riyadh.

This meeting was held at the level of foreign ministers, and was the most prominent between the two parties since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, and major concerned parties such as Kiev and the Europeans were absent from it.

The Riyadh meeting was criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who called for fair talks that include other parties, while leaders of European Union countries fear that the redrawing of US policy towards Russia under President Donald Trump will lead to major concessions to Moscow and a reshaping of security arrangements on the continent.

Trump commented on the Ukrainian position, saying, “I was disappointed… I heard that they were upset because they didn’t get a seat” at the negotiating table, adding, “They had a seat for three years and a long time before that”.

The White House chief also said it was likely he would meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin before the end of the month.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov decided after their meeting in Riyadh to appoint teams to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, according to the US State Department.

“Rubio and Lavrov agreed to appoint senior teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is durable, sustainable and acceptable to all parties,” spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

“The goal is to end this conflict in a way that is fair, lasting and acceptable to all parties involved,” Rubio told reporters after the meeting, noting that the European Union must come to the table for talks on Ukraine.

The US Secretary of State expressed his conviction that Russia is willing to engage in a serious process to end the war.

For his part, Lavrov said, “I think the conversation was very useful… We not only listened, but we listened to each other, and I have reason to believe that the American side understood our position better”.

Russia has set some of its conditions for ending the war, which is approaching its third year, stressing that a halt to the fighting isn’t possible without examining broader security issues at the European level.

Lavrov reiterated his country’s opposition to NATO countries allied with Ukraine deploying any forces on its territory.

“The appearance of armed forces from NATO countries, but under a foreign flag or the EU flag or under national flags, does not change anything in this regard… This is, of course, unacceptable to us,” he told reporters.

In turn, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that a sustainable and long-term solution is impossible without comprehensively taking into account security issues on the continent.

He acknowledged that Ukraine had the right to join the European Union, but not NATO.

“It’s completely different when it comes to security issues and military alliances… Our approach here is different and well known,” he explained.

Later, at his Mar-a-Lago residence, Trump said he fully supports deploying European peacekeepers to Ukraine if he can strike a deal with Russia to end its war there, noting that the United States wouldn’t have to contribute any troops “because, as you know, we’re too far gone.”

Russia has long wanted to reorganize the security architecture on the European continent and is calling on NATO to withdraw its forces from Eastern Europe.

The Kremlin sees the invasion of Ukraine as a response to an existential threat to the alliance.

The US State Department confirmed that the two ministers agreed to establish a consultation mechanism to resolve differences and form high-level teams to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war.

The Ukrainian president, during a visit to Türkiye on Tuesday, criticized the Riyadh meeting.

Zelensky said, “the talks are taking place between representatives of Russia and representatives of the United States, about Ukraine, about Ukraine again, and without Ukraine”.

He called for fair talks involving the European Union, Britain and Türkiye, while postponing his scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

In turn, his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan saw that Türkiye, which has good relations with both sides of the war, would be the ideal host for any talks to end the conflict.

“Türkiye will be an ideal host for potential talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in the near future,” he said at a joint press conference in Ankara with Zelensky.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Tuesday urged the United States not to fall into Russian traps, warning that Moscow could try to sow discord among Westerners.

The talks held in Riyadh were the first at this level between Washington and Moscow since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The meeting was attended by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi National Security Advisor Musaed bin Mohammed al Aiban, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Ushakov, at the Diriyah Palace in northwest Riyadh.

The meeting came after three years of near-freezing relations, and a week before the third anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at a time when Trump’s phone call with Putin last week occupied the diplomatic arena.

Trump announced on Wednesday that he will hold his first meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia.

Recently, the Trump administration has increased its criticism of traditional European allies of the United States.

European leaders met in Paris on Monday to discuss their strategy for Ukraine, but also expressed divisions over whether to send peacekeeping troops.

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday that he would organize a new meeting on Wednesday with several European and non-European countries on Ukraine.

Despite European fears of resuming direct dialogue between the US and Russian presidents, especially on Ukraine, Macron considered in an interview that Trump can relaunch a useful dialogue with Putin, noting that the US president is re-creating strategic confusion for President Putin by using very firm words, which could help put pressure on him.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday after meeting with US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg that the European Union wants to cooperate with Washington for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

The US-Russian talks touched on the economic aspect, noting that Washington and the Western parties are imposing broad sanctions on Moscow due to the invasion.

Rubio said relations between Washington and Moscow could flourish if the war in Ukraine ended.

There are extraordinary opportunities for partnership with Russia, he told reporters, adding that the key to unlocking those opportunities is to end this conflict.

Lavrov said the two delegations showed great interest in lifting economic barriers during their talks on Tuesday, referring to Western sanctions.

“There was great interest in removing artificial barriers that hinder the development of mutually beneficial economic cooperation” between the two countries, he explained.