Trump and Putin to meet for first time since Russia’s Ukraine invasion

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet next Friday, August 15, for the first in-person meeting between leaders of the U.S. and Russia since Moscow launched its deadly 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The leaders are expected to meet in Alaska, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. 

The location of the meeting was a major point of interest after the summit was first floated following a call between Trump and Putin on Wednesday after White House envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow to meet with the Kremlin chief. 

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Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, and the UAE were all under consideration, with Putin originally favoring Hungary, according to sources familiar with the planning. 

The Kremlin chief also shot down the idea of meeting in Italy, according to reports on Friday, due to Rome’s perceived closeness with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Following the Wednesday Trump-Putin call, the U.S. president also spoke with Zelenskyy along with European leaders on the potential for a trilateral meeting. 

Moscow – which has thus far refused to hold direct meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy – has not appeared likely to engage in a trilateral meeting any time soon, as the Kremlin’s foreign policy advisor noted on Wednesday that the potential for such a meeting was “mentioned” but “not discussed.”

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP))

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Reporting later suggested that Putin may be open to meeting face to face with Zelenskyy, but only if certain “conditions” are met, though what these conditions are remains unclear. 

Putin has allegedly suggested that Ukraine would need to formally cede the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2022, but which it does not have full control over. 

Though Zelenskyy has countered similar territorial demands by noting that under Ukraine’s Constitution a national referendum would need to occur for any territorial concessions.

Despite the immense hurdles that remain, Trump appeared optimistic when speaking to reporters on Wednesday that “there’s a very good prospect that [Putin and Zelenskyy] will” meet.

Zelenskyy said at least one bilateral meeting between the U.S. and Russian leaders was suggested, which would potentially be followed by a meeting with Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy. 

S President Donald Trump (R) meets Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) on the first day of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan on June 28, 2019. (Kremlin Press Office / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

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It remains unclear what the president hopes to definitively get out of meeting with Putin in person after expressing frustration with the Kremlin chief despite months of attempts to forge a ceasefire. 

Trump wouldn’t comment on how likely he thought a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv could be on the horizon and echoed his previous frustrations with Putin by telling reporters, “I’ve been disappointed before with this one.”