President Trump and President Putin Agree to Meet for Peace Talks - Kremlin

President Trump and President Putin Agree to Meet for Peace Talks - Kremlin

Moscow, February 2025: The Kremlin announced on Friday that both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed on the necessity of a meeting, although the details of such a meeting are yet to be determined.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that during the first talks held this week in Riyadh, which were seen as a precursor to more formal negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, both leaders agreed that a meeting should take place, but "no specifics have been decided yet." He also noted that both leaders had expressed a desire to meet in person.

Peskov stated, "Both presidents have expressed a desire, and there is also an instruction to prepare the meeting well so that it is as productive as possible. During the preparation, all the nuances will be discussed."

Trump said after the Saudi meeting on Tuesday that he would probably meet with Putin before the end of the month.

Putin said on Wednesday that the meeting should be carefully prepared to ensure success.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the Trump-Putin meeting would largely depend on how much progress could be made in ending the war, and Trump wants to know whether Putin is serious about that.

Peskov reiterated that Putin is open to negotiating a settlement to the conflict.

"We have our goals, related to our national security and interests, and we are ready to achieve these goals through peace talks," he said.

He also denied a Financial Times report that Russia, at the talks in Saudi Arabia, had demanded the withdrawal of NATO forces from Eastern Europe — something Russia had sought in negotiations with the United States in the months before the war began.

With the third anniversary of the war approaching on Monday, Peskov said it was too early to make any conclusions about the results of what Moscow calls its "special military operation."

"The special military operation continues. All the goals set by the head of state and the supreme commander-in-chief must be achieved," he said.