Translated with AI
US President Donald Trump plans to hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week, The New York Times (NYT) reports, citing sources.
"Trump intends to meet with Putin in person next week. Soon after, he plans a three-way meeting with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to two people familiar with the plan," the newspaper reports.
"According to sources, Trump revealed these plans in a conversation with European leaders on Wednesday. The future meetings would have involved only the three leaders, without any of their European counterparts," the NYT notes.
European leaders appeared to have embraced Trump's ideas, one source said.
According to the NYT, the phone call was attended by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as well as US Vice President J.D. Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Representatives for the White House, Vance, Witkoff and Rubio declined to comment on the information.
"The Russian president's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment," the NYT notes.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump said Whitkoff had very constructive talks with Putin.
"My Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, had a very productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A major success!" Trump wrote on social media.
"I later briefed some European allies on this. Everyone agreed that this war must end, and we will work to achieve this in the coming days and weeks," the president added.
On Wednesday, during a visit to Moscow, Witkoff met with President Putin. The Russian president and the US presidential envoy discussed the Ukrainian crisis and prospects for the possible development of strategic cooperation between the US and Russia, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters. The meeting lasted approximately three hours.
