Trump rules out immediate summit with Putin as Kremlin envoy visits US for Ukraine peace talks
US President Donald Trump has downplayed the likelihood of meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin anytime soon, despite ongoing diplomatic engagements between US officials and a top Kremlin negotiator aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One in Doha on Saturday, Trump said he would only agree to a summit if there were clear prospects for a deal.
“I’m going to have to know that we’re going to make a deal. I’m not going to be wasting my time,” he stated, days after the planned meeting with Putin in Budapest was called off.
The president noted that while he had previously enjoyed a “great relationship” with Putin, the recent turn of events had been “very disappointing.”
Trump’s remarks coincided with the visit of Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev, who held talks with Trump administration officials in Washington and Florida over the weekend. Dmitriev, who met with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, told CNN that a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine conflict was “within reach,” citing recent openness from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate based on current frontlines.
“I believe Russia, the US, and Ukraine are quite close to a diplomatic solution,” Dmitriev said, describing Zelenskyy’s shift as “a big move.”
Dmitriev’s visit came shortly after Washington imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil — a decision Trump had delayed for months. The measures followed the collapse of plans for a Trump-Putin summit in Budapest, after failed talks in Alaska in August.
While Trump expressed hope that the sanctions would be “short-lived” and that the conflict would soon be resolved, Putin described the move as “serious” but insufficient to significantly harm Russia’s economy.
Putin called the sanctions an “unfriendly act” that undermined recent efforts to restore bilateral relations, though he said he remained open to future dialogue. Dmitriev also confirmed that a Trump-Putin meeting “will happen, but probably at a later date.”
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy welcomed the US sanctions, calling them “a strong and much-needed message that aggression will not go unanswered.” The European Union also imposed parallel sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas sector.
