Trump could meet with Putin soon, Rubio says

President Donald Trump could soon meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate an end to their war. The meeting could happen in the next few days or weeks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox Business on Thursday. A meeting between Trump and Putin would be their first of Trump’s second term. The remarks came the day after Trump’s special envoy met with Putin. The U.S. president earlier set Friday as a deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine or face economic pressure from the United States.

Trump would continue advocating for an immediate ceasefire before further peace talks, Rubio said. But Russian and Ukrainian ceasefire proposals would need to be similar enough that an in-person meeting would be productive, he said. Both the Russians and Ukrainians need to concede territory to reach a peace deal, he said. Trump would decide in the next few days whether to impose threatened secondary sanctions on Russia, Rubio said.

How did special envoy Steve Witkoff’s Wednesday meeting with Putin go? It was very productive, Trump said on Wednesday. Everyone agreed that the war must end, he said. Rubio told Fox Business that Witkoff was returning with a ceasefire plan that included some of the first concrete examples of Russia’s conditions for an end to the war.

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