Agreement on Putin-Trump talks ‘essentially reached,’ Kremlin aide says, but plays down three-way summit with Zelenskyy
Senior Kremlin aide and former Russian ambassador to the US Yuri Ushakov has just said that the two sides “essentially reached” an agreement to hold a meeting between Putin and Trump “in the coming days.”
“We are now beginning concrete preparations together with our American colleagues,” he added in televised comments.
But as my colleague Shaun Walker notes, there is a pretty major difference there compared to Trump’s original intentions of a three-way summit that would also include Zelenskyy.
In his comments, Ushakov has thrown cold water on the US suggestion that a three-way meeting with Zelenskyy would follow shortly after.
“As for a three-way meeting, which for some reason Washington was talking about yesterday, this was just something mentioned by the American side during the meeting in the Kremlin. But this was not discussed. The Russian side left this option completely without comment,” said Yuri Ushakov, a key aide to Vladimir Putin.
Key events
Speculations mount about possible venue of Putin-Trump summit
There is a lot of speculation about a possible venue for the Putin-Trump meeting, which the Kremlin’s aide Ushakov said had been already agreed, but would only be announced later.
Reuters noted that Putin was due on Thursday to meet the president of the United Arab Emirates, which sources have previously suggested as a possible venue.
Meanwhile, we have an update on the Ukrainian gas interconnector hit by Russian drones yesterday (yesterday’s Europe Live), with its operator saying it remains operational despite the attack.
The gas pumping station in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region is used to import LNG from the US and Azerbaijan, with the attack thought to seek to undermine preparations for winter.
“Deliveries are made in the same manner as before,” an official from the operator told Reuters today.
Kremlin tries to bank summit with Trump but ignore Zelenskyy in classic Putin/Trump dynamic – snap analysis
Shaun Walker
in Kyiv
In recent months, Putin has made it clear he does not want to be in the same room as Volodymyr Zelenskyy but would be keen on a set-piece summit with Trump.
The reports out of Washington yesterday suggested Steve Witkoff had come to a compromise with Putin: first a two-way meeting with Trump, then a three-way adding Zelenskyy.
This morning, the Kremlin is making it clear it is working to a different agreement, banking the big summit with Trump and ignoring the part about Zelenskyy.
It all looks like the classic Putin/Trump dynamic we have got used to in recent months: Trump promises something that sounds like a breakthrough, then the Kremlin throws cold water on it.
Agreement on Putin-Trump talks ‘essentially reached,’ Kremlin aide says, but plays down three-way summit with Zelenskyy
Senior Kremlin aide and former Russian ambassador to the US Yuri Ushakov has just said that the two sides “essentially reached” an agreement to hold a meeting between Putin and Trump “in the coming days.”
“We are now beginning concrete preparations together with our American colleagues,” he added in televised comments.
But as my colleague Shaun Walker notes, there is a pretty major difference there compared to Trump’s original intentions of a three-way summit that would also include Zelenskyy.
In his comments, Ushakov has thrown cold water on the US suggestion that a three-way meeting with Zelenskyy would follow shortly after.
“As for a three-way meeting, which for some reason Washington was talking about yesterday, this was just something mentioned by the American side during the meeting in the Kremlin. But this was not discussed. The Russian side left this option completely without comment,” said Yuri Ushakov, a key aide to Vladimir Putin.
A Trump-Putin meeting would be the first US-Russia leadership summit since former president Joe Biden met with Putin in Geneva in 2021, AFP noted.
But there is no indication as to where the meeting could take place this time round.
Trump told reporters that there was a “good chance” that it could happen “very soon,” with US media reporting it could be as early as next week, with Trump hoping it could later lead to a three-way meeting with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy, too.
Morning opening: Planning the next steps
Jakub Krupa
With White House officials saying that US president Donald Trump could meet Russian president Vladimir Putin as soon as next week to discuss the war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is hitting the phones today to consult with European partners on the how to best plan the next steps.
We don’t know the details of what Zelenskyy learned from Trump during their phone call last night, joined by some European leaders, but it is clear that there is a momentum to push Russia further, and Kyiv will want to make the most of it.
In a morning update, Zelenskyy said he had already spoken with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and Finnish president Alexander Stubb, and that he would have further calls with German chancellor Friedrich Merz and the leaders of France and Italy. Separately, there will be some technical talks at the level of national security advisers.
Zelenskyy explained his thinking:
“The priorities are absolutely clear.
First – an end to the killing, and it is Russia that must agree to a ceasefire.
Second – a format for leaders, so that such a meeting can lead to a truly lasting peace. We in Ukraine have repeatedly said that finding real solutions can be truly effective at the level of leaders. It is necessary to determine the timing for such a format and the range of issues to be addressed.
Third – long-term security. This is possible together with the United States and Europe.”
He then added:
“Ukraine has never wanted war and will work toward peace as productively as possible. The main thing is for Russia, which started this war, to take real steps to end its aggression.
The world has leverage over the aggressor and the means to verify whether promises are being kept. I’m grateful to everyone who is firmly committed to bringing this war to a dignified end.”
Elsewhere, we will be looking at the latest on EU-US trade from Brussels, as the “joint statement” fleshing out the details of the agreement is now long overdue.
I will bring you all the key updates here.
It’s Thursday, 7 August 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
