According to the White House, Trump and Putin could meet as early as next week to talk about a potential truce in Ukraine. Witkoff’s appearance has generated conjecture because of the lingering tensions in Ukraine and the impending deadline for crucial sanctions in Washington. In the meantime, former US President Donald Trump has declared that he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin in the next several days. The fact that these events are occurring so quickly together raises the possibility that something more planned is in progress.
Despite the new sanctions, Trump is open to meeting with Putin next week
President Donald Trump is open to meeting Vladimir Putin as soon as next week, a White House official said on Wednesday, as the U.S. maintained plans to impose secondary sanctions on Friday in an effort to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. The New York Times reported that Trump would hold a trilateral meeting with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after meeting with the Russian leader.
The report said the plans were disclosed to European leaders, including Zelenskiy, on Wednesday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, responding to the report,
“The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelenskiy.”
A Trump-Putin meeting could take place as soon as next week, the White House official said. The details emerged following a meeting on Wednesday between Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff that Trump said had achieved “great progress”. It comes two days before a deadline set by Trump for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions.
The White House said that sanctions are still on track despite a “productive” Putin meeting
Trump has been increasingly frustrated with Putin over the lack of progress towards peace and has threatened to impose heavy tariffs on countries that buy Russian exports. The White House official said that while the meeting had gone well and Moscow was eager to continue engaging with the United States, secondary sanctions that Trump has threatened against countries doing business with Russia were still expected to be implemented on Friday.
No details were provided. Trump said in a post on Truth Social,
“My Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made!”
As decisions about sanctions build up, the pressure increases
A ticking clock serves as the background for all of this. The deadline for sanctions confronting the Trump administration has the potential to change American policy towards Russia, especially with regard to its actions in Ukraine and other places. Although Trump has consistently adopted a somewhat more forgiving stance towards Moscow, the political environment surrounding him is now more polarised
With detractors both domestically and internationally cautioning against any indications of weakness. Additionally, the sanctions situation is not only being faced by Russian President Vladimir Putin; the U.S. hits Palestinian officials with new visa sanctions as well. It is something quite common these days and is just ongoing.
Putin is unlikely to bow to Trump’s sanctions ultimatum because he believes he is winning the war and his military goals take precedence over his desire to improve relations with the U.S., three sources close to the Kremlin have told Reuters. The Russian sources told Reuters that Putin was sceptical that yet more U.S. sanctions would have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during 3 1/2 years of war; even the Iranian shipping network has been hit by the new USA sanctions. Additionally, any small gesture and discreet visit could tip the scales in this game.
GCN.com/Reuters