President Trump is eyeing a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next week as he pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine, a potential face-to-face meeting that carries huge risks and possible rewards for the White House.
Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin in recent months as Russia pounds Ukraine despite U.S. calls for a pause in the fighting. The administration on Wednesday announced tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil, and additional sanctions on Russia are expected Friday.
Much is still unknown about the meeting, including when, where — and even whether — it will happen.
Here are five questions hanging over the potential Trump-Putin summit.
When and where?
Both the White House and the Kremlin have indicated the meeting will take place soon, potentially as early as next week. But officials did not offer details on where it would take place, how long it would last or who would be involved.
Trump told European leaders on a call on Wednesday that his idea was to meet with Putin and then have a trilateral meeting with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It was not clear if all parties would agree to such a setup, or who else might attend.
Trump told reporters Thursday that Zelensky’s attendance was not a prerequisite for him to meet with Putin.
Possible venues could include Turkey, which has served as a mediator for U.S.-Russian prisoner swaps. The United Arab Emirates has also mediated between Russia and Ukraine for prisoner swaps. Qatar is a mediator the U.S. has relied on heavily in negotiating between Israel and Hamas and between warring parties in Africa.
Trump’s 2018 summit with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, served to provide neutral ground at a time of heightened U.S.-Russia tensions, after Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections. Helsinki holds historic significance as hosting talks easing tensions during the Cold War.
In 2022, Putin and then-President Biden met in Geneva, Switzerland, long a diplomatic hub due to its neutrality on the global stage.
Putin has restrictions on his travel, barred from going to countries who are party to the International Criminal Court, possibly compelling them to arrest him on a warrant from the court over allegations of abduction of Ukrainian children. Putin canceled a trip to South Africa in 2023 over concerns he could be arrested. But Mongolia flouted the court’s orders in September 2024, rolling out the red carpet for Putin. The court later reported Mongolia to its oversight organization for failing to arrest Putin.
What involvement does Ukraine have?
One key piece of any potential summit is Ukraine’s role.
Trump indicated to European leaders that his idea would be to meet with Putin, then host a meeting with Putin and Zelensky. The Kremlin had earlier dismissed the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky unless negotiators had reached the final stages of a deal to end the war.
Zelensky has not publicly commented on a potential meeting with Putin, and such a meeting would be the first time the two leaders have come face-to-face since the war began in 2022.
“Russia now seems to be more inclined toward a ceasefire — the pressure is working. But the key is to ensure they don’t deceive anyone in the details — neither us, nor the United States,” Zelensky said in a statement Wednesday after speaking with Trump and European leaders.
Zelensky has been adamant that there should be no decisions about Ukraine without Ukrainian input. And while Trump spent his first few months back in office railing against Zelensky and saying Ukraine had no leverage in peace talks, he has focused his frustration on Putin and agreed to provide more weapons to Kyiv.
Russia has reportedly floated an air truce over Ukraine absent a deal on a total ceasefire.
A majority, or 69 percent, of survey participants in Ukraine want negotiations for an end to the war as soon as possible, according to a recent Gallup poll, up from 52 percent the year prior. But 68 percent believe it is unlikely fighting will come to an end in the next year.
What are the risks for Trump? For Putin?
Such a high-stakes meeting could yield a historic diplomatic win for Trump if he stops the war — but it also carries risks for all parties involved.
Trump has repeatedly demurred on whether Putin is stringing him along, and an in-person meeting could buy the Russian leader more time without producing concrete results toward a ceasefire in Ukraine.
White House officials have indicated they are going into the potential meeting with eyes open about Putin’s lack of commitments thus far.
“This potential meeting will not be a meeting for the sake of a meeting. This will only be if the president feels that Vladimir Putin is committed to doing what the president has promised on day one, which was ending this war once and for all,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said Thursday on NewsNation.
“The president is obviously frustrated. We see Putin not willing to engage in proper diplomacy with the president,” Fields added.
Putin, meanwhile, risks further angering Trump and consolidating support for Ukraine if he embarrasses the U.S. president during a summit that yields no results.
“In this case [Trump] is faced with an experienced KGB officer who is specifically trained to manipulate people in person. Unfortunately Putin is known to be quite good at it,” said Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“We don’t want the 2018 Helsinki scenario to be repeated. It’s not going to be a win for Trump,” she said. At that time, Trump sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies in dismissing Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.
Will Trump delay Russia sanctions?
The White House is expected to announce a fresh round of sanctions on Russia on Friday after Trump shortened the time frame for Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
A senior administration official said sanctions would go into effect at the end of the week, despite a positive meeting between Steve Witkoff, the special envoy for peace missions, and Russian officials. But it’s not clear what actions Trump is considering.
Some experts argue for narrowing tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil to the actual amount of money being paid to Moscow. The effect could discourage large purchases of Russian oil and generate revenue that could go toward assistance for Ukraine.
But Democrats are raising alarm that Trump has already undermined U.S. commitment to sanctions by holding back on any new penalties on Russia more than six months into the administration, even for tightening penalties on sanction-evaders, according to a report released Tuesday by the minority staff of the Senate committees on Foreign Relations and Banking.
The administration said imposing new sanctions would undermine their ability to negotiate with Russia.
Trump has in the past delayed sanctions threats against both adversaries and allies, while also questioning the impact of additional penalties on Russia.
The prospect of an imminent meeting with Putin and a chance to make gains in negotiations could lead the president and the White House to hold off on new sanctions if they feel it would undermine progress.
Will it lead to a ceasefire?
Trump’s ultimate goal is to immediately halt the fighting between Russia and Ukraine, having long railed against what he views as needless death and destruction.
While initially pressuring Zelensky and framing him as an obstacle to a ceasefire, Trump has more recently described Putin as deceitful, saying he would have a “nice phone call” with the Russian leader and then “the missiles are launched into Kyiv.”
“The talk doesn’t mean anything,” Trump said on July 14, after his sixth phone call with Putin.
But Snegovaya said Putin is in a strong position going into talks, with his economy squeezed but not on the brink of catastrophe, the Russian military making slow but steady gains on the front line, and increased military production allowing for punishing aerial attacks on Ukraine that are depleting Kyiv’s defenses and resolve.
“The best strategy seems to be the one he [Putin] adopted since the start of [the] negotiation effort: Continuously engage with the U.S. administration, try not to provoke it while simultaneously pushing into Ukraine further, gaining additional territory,” she said.
“It’s clearly a diplomatic win for Putin, I think it’s almost a cliche at this point to repeat this — he is ending international isolation and meeting, arguably, the most powerful person in the world, without giving any major concessions on Ukraine,” she continued.
“And that would have been consistent with his original premise that the West will crack and come around eventually.”
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