US President Donald Trump’s ultimatum to Russia regarding progress for ending the war in Ukraine ends on Friday, but so far, few concrete details about a summit have been released.
When asked if the deadline remains, Trump told reporters that Putin needed to make a decision.
"We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed," Trump told reporters at the White House.
Sources told Fox News that a meeting between the two could happen in Rome as early as Monday.
Russian state news agency TASS previously reported that the summit between the two would not happen in Europe, and mentioned that the pair were planning to meet in the United Arab Emirates. He later met with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan on Thursday shortly after he confirmed the meeting plans.
CBS reported that Hungary was also being considered.
Will the tariffs take effect?
At this time, it is unclear if Trump will pause the proposed tariffs if a meeting date is set. CNN reported that Trump is considering targeting Russia's Shadow Fleet tankers.
It's also worth noting that Trump's proposed 25% tariffs on India are set to take effect on August 27. India is the second-largest buyer of Russian energy products, which is reportedly part of the reason why Trump leveled the "secondary sanctions" on Mumbai.
The meeting between Trump and Putin will reportedly be followed up by a three-person summit between the two leaders and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
An anonymous White House official told the Washington Post that Trump would only meet with Putin if the Kremlin chief agreed to meet with Zelensky.
“President Trump would like to meet with both President Putin and President Zelensky because he wants this brutal war to end,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, alleging that the request for a meeting came from Moscow.
“The White House is working through the details of these potential meetings and details will be provided at the appropriate time.”
"Getting the sides to the table is key to reaching a diplomatic solution to this conflict. So again, it's not about trust — it's about action, and about doing everything we can to help bring this war to an end,” State Department Spokesman Tommy Pigott said during a press briefing.
However, after the statements, Trump told reporters that Putin would not have to meet with Zelensky after the first meeting.
“No. He doesn’t, no,” Trump said, in regards to Putin meeting Zelensky, as reported by the Washington Post.
Putin dismissed the idea of meeting Zelensky later.
“For this to happen, certain conditions must be created. Unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions.”
This comes in the middle of the third year of the war in Ukraine. Russian forces claim to have taken several villages in the eastern part of the country.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin on Wednesday, which both the US and Russia marked as a success.
“I’ve been disappointed before with this one,” Trump said, adding that “we’re having very serious talks right now about … getting it settled, getting it ended.”
In a statement to Ukraine, Zelensky called for honest negotiations.
“It seems that Russia is now more committed to a ceasefire. The pressure on them is working, but the main thing is that they do not deceive us or the United States in the details,” he said.