Donald Trump has said there is a “good chance” he could meet the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, following what he described as “very good talks” between his envoy and Vladimir Putin earlier in the day.
Asked at the White House whether the two leaders had agreed to such a summit, the US president said there was a “very good prospect”, but did not give further details.
The Kremlin earlier issued a vague statement about the talks between Putin and Steve Witkoff, with a foreign policy aide saying the two sides had exchanged “signals” as part of “constructive” talks in Moscow.
The meeting came days before Trump’s deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, or face new sanctions.
Trump’s comments in the Oval Office on Wednesday come after he posted on his Truth Social platform that he had briefed some of America’s European allies following the talks.
“Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come,” Trump said.
The White House also told the BBC that Russia had expressed a desire to meet the US president and that he was “open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile said he had spoken to Trump about Witkoff’s visit, with European leaders also on the call.
Zelensky has been warning that Russia would only make serious moves towards peace if it began to run out of money.
Trump has said Russia could face hefty sanctions or see secondary sanctions imposed against all those who trade with it if it doesn’t take steps to end the war.
Wednesday’s discussions between Putin and Witkoff appeared cordial despite Trump’s mounting irritation with the lack of progress in negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
Images shared by Russian outlets showed Putin and Witkoff – who have met several times previously – smiling and shaking hands in a gilded hall at the Kremlin.
Shortly after Witkoff’s departure from Moscow, the White House said Trump had signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff on India for buying Russian oil. The tariff would come into force on 27 August.
The US president has accused India of not caring “how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian war machine”.
Expectations are muted for a settlement by Friday, and Russia has continued its large-scale air attacks on Ukraine despite Trump’s threats of sanctions.
Before taking office in January, Trump said he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in a day. The conflict has raged on, and his rhetoric towards Moscow has since hardened.
“We thought we had [the war] settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” he said last month.
Three rounds of talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul have failed to bring the war closer to an end, three-and-a-half years after Moscow launched its full-invasion.
Moscow’s military and political preconditions for peace remain unacceptable to Kyiv and to its Western partners. The Kremlin has also repeatedly turned down Kyiv’s requests for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
Meanwhile, the US administration approved $200m (£150m) of additional military sales to Ukraine on Tuesday following a phone call between Zelensky and Trump, in which the two leaders also discussed defence co-operation and drone production.
Ukraine has been using drones to hit Russia’s refineries and energy facilities, while Moscow has focused its air attacks on Ukraine’s cities.
The Kyiv City Military Administration said the toll of an attack on the city last week rose to 32 after a man died of his injuries. The strike was one of the deadliest on Kyiv since the start of the invasion.
Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday reported that a Russian attack on a holiday camp in the central region of Zaporizhzhia left two dead and 12 wounded.
“There’s no military sense in this attack. It’s just cruelty to scare people,” Zelensky said.
