The Kremlin has on Thursday belatedly confirmed that a meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has been agreed to and will take place in the "coming days". The White House first unveiled it yesterday, as reported in the NY Times, but it was as yet unclear to degree to which Moscow was on board.
But now Russia has agreed "in principle". According to a statement of Putin’s longtime foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, "At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement in principle was made to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days."
He laid out that the idea of a Trump-Putin-Zelensky meeting (which apparently Washington pushed for) "for some reason was mentioned by Washington yesterday" but "not specifically discussed,” Ushakov added, explaining that the Russian side "left this option completely, completely without comment."
This was in reference to the intense three-hour meeting that Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff had with both Putin and his top negotiator and investment chief Kirill Dmitriev.
"We have launched work to discuss the parameters of such a meeting and the venue for it jointly with our American colleagues now," Ushakov said additionally.
"By the way, I’d like to note that the venue, too, has been agreed in principle and will be announced a bit later," he added. Putin's office has described that the interest in a face-to-face meeting, which will mark the first of Trump's second term - was mutual. One location being already floated as a possibility is the United Arab Emirates.
As for a Zelensky meeting, President Trump has indicated this would happen just bilaterally soon following his sit-down with Putin. Trump had been quoted Thursday as saying "that there will be a meeting [with Putin] very soon" and "that we could be ending" the Ukraine conflict. "We haven’t determined where [the meeting would take place], but we had some very good talks with President Putin today."
But this is all a bit surprising as nothing has fundamentally changed in the warring sides' stances. Moscow has not backed off its maximalist war goals, and will not budge from giving up the four eastern territories it has long declared part of the Russan Federation after a popular referendum, or what was fundamentlally annexation vote.
The Zelensky government hasn't issued any indication that it's ready for territorial concessions - and it even wants to keep laying claim to Crimea. Meanwhile the tariffs offensive continues, with more taking effect overnight:
After months of threats, delays and extensions, President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs took effect overnight, raising the overall average tariff rate to more than 17%, its highest since the Great Depression. Everything from European Union appliances and Japanese cars to food, furniture and toys from China TVs from South Korea will be hit. However, selected oil and gas imports, along with some smartphones and goods covered by a pre-existing trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, are not affected.
Trump has indicated his trade offensive won’t stop. The president said he still plans to impose import taxes on pharmaceutical products and semiconductors. Amid that pressure, Apple said it plans to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years amid pressure from Trump to shift its supply chain to American soil.
Meanwhile, Trump hiked the tariff rate for India to 50% because of the nation’s purchases of Russian oil, and he said he could raise the European Union’s tariff level to 35% from 15% if it reneges on an investment commitment.
As for the upcoming meeting, Anti-Kremlin punits have accused Putin of using the whole dialogue with Washington as a way to keep stalling - all while sustaining battlefield gains - and to gain a reputational boost. They see Putin as having everything to gain with a direct meeting with Trump, in terms of global standing and domestic opinion - but he's not expected to make any significant compromise.
At this point from Moscow's point of view the fate of the war is being decided, but wholly on the battlefield. Ukraine's near-daily cross-border drone attacks also means the Russian military is unlikely to take its foot of the gas pedal operationally.
