Sawt Falasteen - Kremlin says Trump-Putin meeting to be held in 'days'

The Russian president named the United Arab Emirates as a potential location for the summit, but this was not confirmed by Washington. And President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted that he had to be involved in any talks.

The summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.

Trump has been trying since taking office in January to end Russia's military assault on Ukraine.

Three rounds of direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul have failed to yield any progress towards a ceasefire. The two sides remain far apart in the conditions they have set to end the more than three-year-long conflict.

Trump said on Wednesday that he was likely to meet Putin "very soon".

They last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump's first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since the tycoon returned to the White House this year.

"Both sides showed interest" in a meeting, Putin told reporters on Thursday.

"We have many friends who are willing to help us organise such events. One of our friends is the president of the United Arab Emirates," he said, standing next to UAE leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

"Next week has been set as a target date," said Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, adding that both sides have agreed the venue "in principle", without naming it.

However, Washington later denied that a venue or date had been set.

"No location has been determined," a White House official said, while agreeing that the meeting "could occur as early as next week".

- Putin-Zelensky meeting? -

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian bombardments have forced millions of people to flee their homes and have destroyed swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire.

At talks in Istanbul, Russian negotiators outlined hardline territorial demands for halting its advance -- calling for Kyiv to withdraw from some territory it still controls and to renounce Western military support.

Reports of the possible summit came after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in Moscow on Wednesday.

The Russian president had informed his South African counterpart and BRICS partner Cyril Ramaphosa about the details of the talks with Witkoff, days after Washington slapped Pretoria with a 30 percent tariff.

Witkoff proposed a trilateral meeting with Zelensky, but Putin appeared to rule out direct talks with the Ukrainian leader.

"I have nothing against it in general, it is possible, but certain conditions must be created for this," Putin told reporters. "Unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions."

The former KGB agent, who has ruled Russia for over 25 years, said in June that he was ready to meet Zelensky, but only during a "final phase" of negotiations on ending the conflict.

Zelensky reiterated that the meeting should be trilateral. "It is only fair that Ukraine should be a participant in the negotiations," he said in his regular evening address.

The Ukrainian leader spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the European Commissions President Ursula von der Leyen as he called for the continent to be included in any potential peace talks.

"We are also united by the understanding that Russia's war against Ukraine is a war in Europe and against Europe," Zelensky said after the calls.

"Ukraine is an integral part of Europe -- we are already in negotiations on EU accession. Therefore, Europe must be a participant in the relevant processes," Zelensky said on social media after the conversation with Merz.

"Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side. It is time we ended the war," he said.

L.AbuTayeh--SF-PST