TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Kremlin said on Thursday, August 7, 2025, that a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been agreed in principle and will take place in the "coming days."
"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," said Yury Ushakov, a long-serving foreign policy aide to Putin, to government media as reported by NBC News.
"We are now starting to put together the details with our American colleagues," Ushakov said.
The Kremlin said the venue for the summit has been agreed to "in principle," but did not specify where the summit would take place.
"Next week has been set as a target date," Ushakov added.
The day before, Trump expressed hope for a meeting with his Russian counterpart to end the war in Ukraine. This will be the first face-to-face discussion with Putin during his second term in office.
The comments come ahead of Trump's deadline ultimatum to Putin, challenging him to end the war in Ukraine or face tougher new economic sanctions.
In recent weeks, the American leader has used much harsher language than his historic warmth towards his Russian counterpart, condemning Russia's ongoing bombings of Ukrainian civilians and pledging to sell weapons to Ukraine through Europe.
Amidst this tough stance, on Wednesday, Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was seen enjoying a friendly visit to Moscow with Putin and his close friend and investment chief, Kirill Dmitriev.
Following the visit, Trump said he hopes not only to meet with Putin, but also to mediate a three-way summit between them and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
However, Ushakov downplayed the likelihood of this happening.
He said the idea had been "for some reason was mentioned by Washington yesterday," but "not specifically discussed," and Russia has "left this option completely, completely without comment."
As reported by France24, this summit would be the first between the sitting U.S. and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021. The meeting comes as Trump seeks to mediate an end to Russia's military onslaught against Ukraine.
Three rounds of direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to yield progress towards a ceasefire, as both sides appear far apart in their demands to end the conflict that has been ongoing for more than three years.
Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia launched its military assault on Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia's bombings have forced millions to flee their homes and devastated large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin has rejected various calls from the U.S., Europe, and Kyiv for a ceasefire.
In talks in Istanbul, Russian negotiators outlined hardline territorial demands if Ukraine wants Russia to halt its advance, calling for Kyiv to withdraw from areas it still controls and to abandon Western military support.
Zelensky Wants to Meet Putin
Moscow has also repeatedly sought to cast doubt on Zelensky's legitimacy and has sidelined a meeting between the two leaders until terms of a peace deal are agreed upon.
Zelensky reiterated on Thursday his call to meet Putin, which he sees as the only path to progress towards peace.
"We in Ukraine have repeatedly said that finding real solutions can be truly effective at the level of leaders," Zelensky wrote on social media.
"It is necessary to determine the timing for such a format and the range of issues to be addressed," he added.
The Ukrainian leader said on Thursday morning that he had planned to hold "several" conversations throughout the day, including with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as officials from France and Italy.
"There will also be communication at the level of national security advisors," Zelensky said.
"The main thing is for Russia, which started this war, to take real steps to end its aggression," Zelensky added.
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