Trump agrees to meet with Putin even without Zelensky

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US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would agree to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, even if Putin did not meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky first.

When asked by the press whether the Russian leader would need to meet with Zelensky to secure a meeting with the US President, Trump denied: " No, he doesn't ."

TRUMP ON RUSSIA: “Putin doesn't have to agree to meet with Zelensky to meet with me.”

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On Thursday afternoon, a White House official had said, according to ABC News , that Trump would only meet with Putin if the Russian leader also met with Zelensky.

Several US media outlets, including the New York Times, reported on Wednesday that Trump told European leaders he wanted to meet personally with Putin as early as next week and then hold a three-way meeting with Zelensky, in which he would play a mediating role .

The Kremlin has ruled out a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, which it says would only make sense at the end of a negotiation process, when there is an agreement on the terms for peace in Ukraine.

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Vladimir Putin assured that, despite not having met with Zelensky since the beginning of the war, he is not opposed to it happening. "I've said several times that I have nothing against it; it's possible," he stated, as quoted by the TASS news agency. "But for that to happen, certain conditions must be created. Unfortunately, we are still far from creating them, " he added.

In Moscow's view, the Russian agency writes, the problem lies in Kiev's insistence on holding an event without proper preparatory work and without " a clear agenda ."

Later — and after meeting with Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates — the Russian leader told journalists at the Kremlin that he considers the Middle Eastern country a good host for his scheduled meeting with Donald Trump.

"We have many friends who are ready to help us organize an event like this. One of them is the President of the United Arab Emirates. I think we're still deciding, but this would be a suitable location ," he said, as quoted by RIA Novosti .