WASHINGTON, August 7. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump believes there are strong prospects for ending the conflict in Ukraine and holding his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, he told reporters at the White House.
"There’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon," Trump said. When asked whether Putin and Zelensky had agreed to negotiations, he responded that "there’s a very good prospect that they will." "We haven’t determined where [the meeting would take place], but we had some very good talks with President Putin today," he added, referring to the August 6 meeting between the Russian leader and US special envoy Steven Witkoff.
"There’s a very good chance that we could be ending the round, ending the end of that road", Trump noted, referring to the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. "That road was long, and continues to be long," he added.
Earlier, the American leader said that the talks between his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin were very productive, and significant progress was achieved. Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said Witkoff had been received by Putin in the morning, and the two had a useful and constructive conversation. The Russian side conveyed some signals on the Ukrainian issue and received appropriate signals from Trump.
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.