Trump says will meet with Putin ‘very shortly’
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)—US President Donald Trump said Friday he would meet “very shortly” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and suggested that a deal between Moscow and Kyiv could involve swapping territory held by the two sides.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin held consultations Friday with the leaders of China and India to seek support ahead of the summit with Trump, who has spent his first months in office trying to broker peace in Ukraine without making a breakthrough.
“I’ll be meeting very shortly with President Putin. It would have been sooner, but I guess there’s security arrangements that unfortunately people have to make,” Trump said at the White House.
The US president also said “there’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Ukraine and Russia and that the issue would be discussed soon, without providing further details.
The Kremlin said Putin had updated Chinese President Xi Jinping on “the main results of his conversation” with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who visited Moscow earlier this week.
Xi expressed support for a “long-term” solution to the conflict, the Kremlin said.
China’s Xinhua state news agency quoted Xi as having told Putin: “China is glad to see Russia and the United States maintain contact, improve their relations, and promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”
Moscow and Beijing have deepened political, economic and military ties since Russia’s offensive.
China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in the conflict, never denouncing the offensive or calling for Russia to withdraw.
Putin also spoke by phone to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after both countries condemned new US tariffs over New Delhi’s oil purchases from Russia.
“Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine,” Modi posted on social media.
