Trump-Putin meeting gives Ukraine truce talks new lease of life

Diplomatic breakthrough

Witkoff's visit appears to have achieved the diplomatic breakthrough many Western leaders had been desperately hoping for, with Trump indicating a meeting with Putin could take place as early as next week. "There's a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon," Trump told reporters. Trump has also indicated that he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly afterwards.

Karoline Leavitt, Trump's press secretary, said in a statement: "As President Trump said earlier today on Truth Social, great progress was made during Special Envoy Witkoff's meeting with President Putin."

"The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy. President Trump wants this brutal war to end."

A Trump-Putin summit would be the first face-to-face meeting between a sitting US and Russian president since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021, some eight months before Russia launched the biggest attack on a European nation since World War II. Putin and Zelenskyy have not met since December 2019 and make no secret of their contempt for each other.

The New York Times reported that Trump contacted key European allies to inform them of the breakthrough, and that after meeting with Putin, he hoped to arrange a three-way meeting that would include Zelenskyy. This meeting would not include any of Washington's European allies.

"My special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Great progress was made! Afterwards, I updated some of our European allies."

Trump's main aim is to implement an unconditional, 30-day ceasefire, which would then pave the way for talks to establish a permanent peace deal.

At the same time, there appears to have been a hardening of Trump's attitude towards Russia, declaring that Moscow poses an "extraordinary threat" to America's national security.

"I have received additional information from various senior officials on, among other things, the actions of the government of the Russian Federation with respect to the situation in Ukraine," Mr Trump said.

"After considering this additional information, among other things, I find that … the actions and policies of the government of the Russian Federation continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

Shift in attitude

Although the president did not provide any details of the new information, his comments nevertheless mark a significant shift in his attitude towards Putin, whom Trump has previously praised in an attempt to persuade the Russian leader to enter negotiations.

The Trump administration also intends to maintain pressure on those countries, such as China, that are still doing business with Russia, with a senior administration official saying secondary sanctions were still set to be imposed on countries trading with Russia. 

For his part, Zelenskyy has sounded an optimistic note, commenting, "It seems that Russia is now more inclined to a ceasefire, the pressure on them is working."

One possible option under consideration is that both Moscow and Kyiv accept a moratorium on air strikes—a proposal first mooted by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting with Putin.

While falling well short of the full and immediate ceasefire that Ukraine and the US have been seeking for months, such an undertaking would offer some relief to both sides.

Since Russia and Ukraine resumed direct peace talks in May, Russia has carried out its heaviest air attacks of the war, killing at least 72 people in the capital Kyiv alone. Trump last week called the Russian attacks "disgusting." Ukraine, meanwhile,  continues to strike Russian refineries and oil depots, which it has hit many times.

Whatever the outcome of the proposed talks between Trump and Putin, any agreement that starts the process of ending the bloodshed in Ukraine will be universally welcomed.