Trump says Putin wants to meet with him, will do ‘whatever’ to stop war

President Trump on Thursday said Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to meet with him, adding that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to stop the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office that Putin doesn’t have to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in order for him to meet with the Russian leader, while the Kremlin has said a Trump-Putin summit could happen next week.

“No, he would like to meet with me, and I’ll do whatever I can to stop the killing,” Trump said. “So last month, they lost 14,000 people — killed. Every week is [4,000] or 5,000 people. So I don’t like long waits. I think it’s a shame. And they’re mostly soldiers. They’re Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and some people from the cities where, you know, missiles are locked in and you’ll lose 35, 40 people a night, which is terrible.”

“20,000 people are dying a month, young, generally, young people, soldiers,” he added.

A top Kremlin aide earlier Thursday said preparations are “ongoing” for talks as soon as next week. It would be the first huddle by a U.S. president with the Russian leader since 2021.

Trump is weighing whether to meet with Putin, as well as Zelensky, in the coming weeks and raised the idea of meeting with the two leaders during a call with European allies on Wednesday, a source confirmed to The Hill. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Russia had expressed an interest in meeting with Trump.

On Friday, Trump is expected to impose additional sanctions on Russia, even after Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy for peace missions, met on Wednesday with Putin in Moscow.

When asked whether the deadline is still standing for sanctions, Trump deferred to Putin to make the call.

“We’re going to see what he has to say. That’s going to be up to him,” Trump said.

The president had shortened the deadline on Russia sanctions, after warning in July that the Eastern European could face “severe” tariffs if it did not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine within the next two months.

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