NEW YORK, August 7. /TASS/. The possibility of a meeting between US leader Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin depends on the progress that can be made in bringing the parties' positions closer together on the issue of a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Ukraine, US State Secretary Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox Business.

"I don't know if it will be next week or not. I think it will depend a lot on how much progress we can make," the top diplomat said.

Rubio added that he cannot yet say how long it will take to make progress on this issue.

Earlier, The New York Times reported, citing a source, that Trump expects to hold a personal meeting with his Russian counterpart next week, followed shortly thereafter by a trilateral meeting with Vladimir Zelensky.

The White House has not yet responded to TASS' request for comment on the report and confirmation of the information.