Trump and Putin Set to Meet in Saudi Arabia on Ukraine

AFP/APP

Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump revealed Wednesday that he expects to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia for Ukraine peace talks, signaling an extraordinary thaw in relations following a surprise phone call between the two leaders.

In their first confirmed contact since Trump’s return to the White House, the U.S. president said he had a “lengthy and highly productive” conversation with his Russian counterpart, who ordered the bloody 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

However, the move has sparked concerns that Ukraine may be left out of discussions about its own future, particularly after Trump stated that Kyiv’s aspiration to join NATO was not “practical”—a key demand of Moscow.

Trump, who has been pushing for a swift resolution to the nearly three-year war, denied that Ukraine was being excluded from direct negotiations between the two nuclear-armed superpowers.

“We expect that he’ll come here, and I’ll go there—and we’re going to meet probably in Saudi Arabia the first time,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to his plans to meet with Putin.

Trump indicated that the meeting would take place “in the not too distant future” and noted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—who played a key role in a recent Russia-U.S. prisoner exchange—would also be involved.

The Kremlin reported that the call lasted nearly one and a half hours. According to the Kremlin, both leaders agreed that “the time has come to work together,” and Putin extended an invitation for Trump to visit Moscow.

Before taking office on January 20, Trump had promised to end the Ukraine war “within 24 hours.”