Possible Meeting Between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky to End the Conflict in Ukraine

White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt confirmed yesterday, Wednesday, that U.S. President Donald Trump is "open to meeting both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the same time," in a move described as potentially a significant shift in efforts to end the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Levitt stated that "the Russian side has expressed its desire to meet with the U.S. president," which enhances the possibility of direct meetings between the parties in the coming days.

For his part, President Trump praised the results of the talks held by his special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, with President Putin, describing them as "very fruitful."

Trump said in a post on the "Truth Social" platform:

"My special envoy Steve Witkoff had a very fruitful meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and significant progress has been made! Later, I briefed some of our European allies on the latest developments. Everyone agrees on the need to end this war, and we will strive to achieve that in the coming days and weeks. Thank you for your interest in this matter!".

According to what the New York Times reported from two informed sources, Trump plans to meet Putin in person next week, in a meeting that could pave the way for a trilateral summit bringing together Trump, Putin, and Zelensky later on.

The newspaper revealed that these plans were discussed during communications held between the U.S. president and several European leaders today.

In Moscow, Yuri Ushakov, assistant to the Russian president, announced that Putin received the U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and confirmed that "the dialogue was useful and constructive," noting that "the Russian side sent signals regarding the Ukrainian file and received signals from President Trump in return."

It is worth mentioning that Trump had given his Russian counterpart a ten-day deadline, ending next Friday, to reach an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The U.S. president hinted at imposing new sanctions on Moscow if these efforts fail, emphasizing that the United States will not hesitate to pressure Russia if it does not agree to a peace deal with Kyiv.

These moves come at a time when international pressure to end the war is increasing, amid hopes that the upcoming meetings will lead to actual progress towards peace in Eastern Europe.