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- Trump greenlights Putin sit-down, even if Russian leader does not meet with Zelenskyy</p>
<p>Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY August 7, 2025 at 11:15 PM</p>
<p>WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump said he's willing to meet with Vladimir Putin, regardless of whether the Russian leader agrees to sit down with Ukraine's president to discuss an end to the war.</p>
<p>"No, he doesn't. No, no. They would like to meet with me, and I'll do whatever I can to stop the killing," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.</p>
<p>The potential summit next week between Trump and Putin had hit a snag over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's possible inclusion, prior to Trump's Aug. 7 declaration.</p>
<p>More: Top Trump aide accuses India of financing Russia's war in Ukraine</p>
<p>An aide to Putin said the Russian government agreed to and was preparing for a bilateral meeting with Trump. But a White House official stipulated that Putin must first agree to meet with Zelenskyy before a Trump sit-down can take place.</p>
<p>Putin told reporters on Aug. 7 that he had "no objection" to meeting with Zelenskyy "in principle." Still, "certain conditions must be in place first. Unfortunately, we are still far from that point," the Russian leader said.</p>
<p>Zelenskyy declared on social media: "Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side."</p>
<p>More: Russia claims capture of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine after 16-month battle</p>
<p>Traditional Russian wooden nesting dolls, Matryoshka dolls, depicting Russia's President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump are displayed for sale in Saint Petersburg on August 7, 2025.</p>
<p>The back-and-forth came after Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian leaders in Moscow ahead of an Aug. 8 deadline for Putin's government to strike a peace deal with Ukraine or be hit with stiffer sanctions from the United States.</p>
<p>Both nations described the conversations as constructive, though no immediate progress toward a peace deal appeared to be made.</p>
<p>An initial round of economic punishments in the form of higher tariffs on India, a major purchaser of Russian oil, were announced this week, and U.S. officials have said more sanctions are on their way.</p>
<p>Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Aug. 7 that it would be up to Putin. "We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed," Trump said of the sanctions deadline.</p>
<p>Trump said on an Aug. 6 call with European leaders that he intended to meet both Putin and Zelenskyy, the the New York Times reported. Zelenskyy said he was also on the phone. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and Vice President JD Vance also participated in the call, sources familiar with the conversation said.</p>
<p>Trump told reporters during an Aug. 6 event with Apple's CEO at the White House that "there's a very good prospect" Putin and Zelenskyy would agree to a summit.</p>
<p>A man sits atop a destroyed Russian tank and talks on a mobile phone, as he visits an exhibition of destroyed Russian military vehicles, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine August 7, 2025.</p>
<p>"I've been disappointed before with this one," Trump said.</p>
<p>The last U.S. leader to meet with Putin was former President Joe Biden during a 2021 summit in Switzerland. Trump and Putin met in Finland in 2018. Both meetings took place before Russia war launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.</p>
<p>No location has been set for the potential upcoming summit between Putin and Trump. Putin said on Aug. 7 that the United Arab Emirates had offered to host.</p>
<p>Turkey hosted a previous round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine that Zelenskyy challenged Putin to show up to in person in May. Trump said he'd come, too, if he thought it would help. None of the leaders ended up attending.</p>
<p>Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a press briefing following phone calls with President Donald Trump, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 19, 2025.</p>
<p>The Kremlin said on Aug. 7 that while Witkoff mentioned a trilateral summit with Trump and Zelenskyy, "there was no specific discussion on this topic."</p>
<p>"Our suggestion primarily focuses on preparing for a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump. It is our belief that ensuring this meeting is a success and yields tangible results is what matters most," Putin aide Yury Ushako said.</p>
<p>The State Department referred questions to the White House. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Fox Business interview on Aug. 6 that if talks progressed, an opportunity would hopefully "present itself very soon" for Trump to meet Putin and Zelenskyy "in the near future."</p>
<p>"There's still many impediments to overcome," he said after Witkoff's Moscow meetings.</p>
<p>More: Ukraine arrests air force officer for spying on Western-supplied fighter jets</p>
<p>Zelenskyy urged the U.S. and Europe to keep the pressure on Moscow.</p>
<p>"The near future must show what the consequences will be if Russia continues to drag out the war and disrupt constructive efforts," he said in an X post after a call with French President Emmanuel Macron.</p>
<p>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump OKs Putin summit, with or without Zelenskyy</p>
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