Trump and Putin could meet this month, Kremlin says, as US envoy lands in Ukraine
White House emissary Keith Kellogg to meet with Zelensky, says US understands need for security guarantees; Trump blames Kyiv for war, doesn’t invite Zelensky to talks on ending it
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could meet this month, although the first face-to-face encounter between a Russian and a US leader since 2021 could take longer to prepare, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
Trump said on Tuesday he would probably meet Putin this month and dismissed Ukraine’s concern about being left out of US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia, also asserting that Kyiv started the war and could have reached a deal with Russia earlier to end it.
Zelensky canceled his planned Wednesday trip to Saudi Arabia, criticizing the US-Russia talks, to which he was not invited, about the future of his country.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the meeting in Riyadh was focused mostly on Russian-US bilateral ties but that it was also a “very, very important step” toward reaching a settlement on the Ukraine war, nearing the end of its third year.
“But this is the first step… Naturally, it’s impossible to fix everything in one day or a week. There is a long way to go,” Peskov said.
Asked if a meeting between Putin and Trump could take place this month, Peskov was quoted by Interfax as saying: “Possibly. And possibly not.”
Putin and Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden held a summit in Geneva in June 2021. That was the most recent time a US and Russian leader met face to face, though Biden and Putin had a call in February 2022 and messages were passed via intermediaries.
Trump has upended Western policy on Russia and Ukraine, ordering talks with Russia without Ukraine or European powers, speaking to Putin, and talking about bringing down the price of oil — of which Russia is a major exporter.
Trump says he wants to end the war and that he thinks Putin wants to do a deal. But he has yet to spell out his plan for halting a conflict that has left swaths of Ukraine destroyed, killed or injured hundreds of thousands of people and raised fears of a direct confrontation between Russia and the United States, the world’s two biggest nuclear powers.
The talks in Riyadh were the first that the US and Russia have held to seek an end to the war, the deadliest in Europe since World War II.
No Ukrainian or European officials were invited. Kyiv has said it will not accept any deal imposed without its consent.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a Russia-friendly president was toppled in Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution and Russia annexed Crimea, with Russian-backed separatist forces fighting Ukraine’s armed forces.
In 2022, Putin sent his army into Ukraine in what he called a “special military operation.” He said it was needed to protect Russian-speakers in Ukraine and counter what he said was a grave threat to Russia from potential Ukrainian membership in NATO.
Ukraine and the West cast the war as an imperial-style land grab that threatens European security, and say that Russia could go further and attack NATO one day. Russia dismisses such claims as nonsense.
Kellogg visits Kyiv to meet with Zelensky
Meanwhile, Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday for talks with Zelensky and military commanders.
The battlefield has brought grim news for Ukraine in recent months. A relentless onslaught in eastern areas by Russia’s bigger army is grinding down Ukrainian forces, which are slowly but steadily being pushed backward at some points on the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.
Kellogg said his visit was “a chance to have some good, substantial talks.”
American officials have signaled that Ukraine’s hopes of joining NATO in order to ward off Russian aggression after reaching a possible peace agreement won’t happen. Zelensky says any settlement will require US security commitments to keep Russia at bay.
US Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, has arrived in Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/jyHGpLyMHq
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) February 19, 2025
“We understand the need for security guarantees,” Kellogg said in comments carried by Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Novyny on his arrival at Kyiv train station.
“It’s very clear to us the importance of the sovereignty of this nation and the independence of this nation as well… Part of my mission is to sit and listen,” the retired three-star general said.
Kellogg said he would convey what he learns on his visit to Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “and ensure that we get this one right.”
Zelensky, in Turkey, criticizes US-Russia talks
Zelensky on Tuesday criticized US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair” and involve European countries including Turkey.
His remarks came after Washington and Moscow said they would name teams to negotiate a path to ending the war in Ukraine, during their first high-level official talks since Russia invaded nearly three years ago.
The Ukrainian leader spoke after a nearly three-hour meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish capital Ankara.
“Ukraine, Europe in a broad sense — and this includes the European Union, Turkey, and the UK — should be involved in conversations and the development of the necessary security guarantees with America regarding the fate of our part of the world,” Zelensky said.
“You can talk about anything, but no decision can be made without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine.”
Any efforts to broker an end to the conflict should be “fair,” he said, slamming the US-Russia talks in Riyadh earlier on Tuesday and reiterating his opposition to “decisions without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine.”
Standing beside Zelensky, Erdogan offered Turkey as the “ideal host” for any talks on ending the conflict, recalling how the sides had met in Istanbul back in 2022, just weeks after Russia invaded.
“Turkey will be an ideal host for the possible talks between Russia, Ukraine and America in the near future,” he added, saying the Istanbul talks had been “an important reference point and the platform where the parties came closest to an agreement”.
It was Zelensky’s third visit to Turkey since the Russian invasion, with the Ukrainian leader seeking to shore up Kyiv’s position following US Trump’s outreach toward Moscow.
NATO member Turkey has sought to maintain good relations with its warring Black Sea neighbors, with Erdogan pitching himself as a key go-between and possible peacemaker between the two.
Ankara has provided drones for Ukraine but shied away from Western-led sanctions on Moscow.
Alongside Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Turkey has played a role in brokering several prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine.
Those deals have seen hundreds of prisoners returning home despite the ongoing conflict.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
