Trump will meet Putin even if Russian leader refuses to meet Zelenskyy

Donald Trump has said he will meet Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader refuses to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Asked by a reporter if Mr Putin needed to meet his Ukrainian counterpart in order to meet him, the US president replied: "No, he doesn't. No." A Russian aide has said Washington and Moscow could hold talks "in the coming days".

The same aide said the Americans had suggested a trilateral meeting but it was "not specifically discussed". White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "As President Trump said yesterday, the Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the president is open to this meeting.

"President Trump would like to meet with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy because he wants this brutal war to end. "The White House is working through the details of these potential meetings and details will be provided at the appropriate time." The White House has set a deadline of Friday for Moscow to show progress towards ending the three-year war in Ukraine or suffer additional economic sanctions.

Asked if that deadline would hold, Mr Trump said of Mr Putin: "It's going to be up to him. We're going to see what he has to say.

It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed." The Russian leader has played down the possibility of talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that while it is possible, certain conditions must be met.

Mr Putin had been responding to an American proposal of a trilateral meeting between him, the Ukrainian president and Mr Trump. The idea was floated by Steve Witkoff, the US president's envoy, during talks with Mr Putin on Wednesday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

War in Ukraine: Latest updates Mr Ushakov said the three-way option was "simply mentioned by the American representative during the meeting in the Kremlin". He added, however: "This option was not specifically discussed." On the prospect of meeting Mr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin said: "I have already said many times that I have nothing against it in general - it is possible." However, he distanced himself from any such meeting happening soon, adding: "But certain conditions must be created for this.

Unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions." Mr Zelenskyy offered to speak to Mr Putin in May, challenging him to meet in Istanbul for talks on ending the war in Ukraine - an invitation the Russian leader declined. While a trilateral meeting appears to be off the agenda, Mr Ushakov said an agreement had been reached for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet "in the coming days".

After the US president touted a "very good prospect" of the leaders meeting for Ukraine ceasefire talks, Mr Ushakov said on Thursday that Russian and American officials had started working on the details. "At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was essentially reached to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days," he said.

"We are now beginning concrete preparations together with our American colleagues." Regarding a trilateral meeting, Mr Ushakov said: "We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive." It would be the first time the two leaders have met since Mr Trump returned to office, and follows a three-hour meeting between Mr Putin and Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday. Following the meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it appeared that Russia was "more inclined to a ceasefire".

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