Trump made his statement during communication with reporters in the White House in the context of discussing war in Ukraine. When asked about whether Putin needs to first meet with Zelensky in order to count on a meeting with him, the head of the White House responded with objection.
“No, he doesn’t need. No,” Trump said, noting his desire to stop the war.
Earlier, the media wrote that the meeting of the head of the Kremlin with the President of Ukraine is a prerequisite for the meeting of Putin and Trump.
Another question concerned the deadline, which Trump gave Putin to establish peace in Ukraine. The US President promised to impose sanctions against Russia and secondary tariffs in relation to countries buying Russian oil, if Putin will not agree to a ceasefire before the specified period expired on August 8. The journalist asked if the deadline remains relevant whether he became uncertain in the light of recent events. Trump noted that this will depend on the head of the Kremlin.
“This will depend on him. We will see what he will say. Everything will depend on him,” Trump said, adding that he was still very disappointed by Putin.
Context
On July 14, Trump said he was “very disappointed” by Putin's actions. The head of the White House threatened that if Moscow did not agree to negotiations within 50 days, the United States will be duties. “We will introduce very hard tariffs, about 100%, you call them secondary tariffs,” Trump said. On July 29, he reduced this period to 10 days.
On July 31, the head of the White House stated that he was not sure of the effectiveness of new sanctions against the Russian Federation as a way to finish the war. “I don’t know if this will affect, because he obviously wants to continue the war. […] I don’t know if this really affects, but we will do it, ”Trump said.
August 6 in Moscow took place meeting Putin and special representative of US President Steve Witkoff.
The special representative of Putin for investment and economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, based on the results of Vitcoff's visit, announced the continuation of the “constructive dialogue” between the United States and Russia. Ushakov said that Moscow “handed over some signals” on the war in Ukraine and “received appropriate signals” from Washington.
Trump called this meeting productive and announced “significant progress.” After that, he He held a telephone conversation with the President of Ukraine, European leaders also participated in it. According to Zelensky, the Russian Federation, it seems, is now more configured to a ceasefire.
Trump told reporters that there was a high probability of his meeting with Putin and Zelensky in the near future. According to CNN, Putin suggested holding this meeting. Trump's assistants are already preparing it, the US president ordered to act quickly, informed the channel.
