Trump Is Open to Meeting With Putin Again

President Donald Trump is open to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he wants it be for a peace deal with Ukraine.

The last summit was last August in Alaska, whereas the president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have met as recently as late July.

"Oh, he'd do it if I wanted him. But I want to do it when we're ready to do a peace deal,” the president told Townhall on Wednesday during a travel-focused event in the Oval Office, stressing that he ultimately wants “everybody” to get along.

“Russia's got great land and valuable land. But we could do one summit immediately,” Trump continued.

“I wanna do it when that war is ending, and I think we will,” he added.

Townhall's @cameron_arcand: "Is there any hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin would do another summit with you in the near future?"

Trump: "Oh, he'd do it if I wanted him. But I wanna do it when we're ready to do a peace deal." pic.twitter.com/g0OUEAyxVm
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 2, 2026

The war continues to rage on in the two countries, including with roughly 12 people killed in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Tuesday as Russia continues its days-long attacks on the city, according to Reuters. In addition, Zelensky has said that airlines should steer clear of traveling over Russia as Ukraine has its own drone-related efforts, which Putin has dubbed "state terrorism," CNBC reported.

Zelenskyy posted on Tuesday that they " truly respect the fact that our partners want to help bring this war to an end."

"We support every such effort. When the Americans asked us to pause strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg on August 25, 26, and 27, we observed that pause," he added. "There were no strikes on Russia, while strikes on Ukraine continued. When another global power asked us to pause strikes in the direction of Vladivostok for a specified period of time, we agreed to ensure that as well. New meetings in Moscow are now being prepared, and we will take that into account."

"The war needs to end, and leaders are right to tell Putin this. So, for the sake of diplomacy and negotiations, whenever our partners approach us about this, we will ensure that Russian skies are cleared of drones for specified periods of time and along specified routes. Safety will return to Russia’s skies when there is real movement toward peace. For now, the skies over Russia are for drones – not for civilian aviation.

Ukraine is a country of peace. And we truly respect the fact that our partners want to help bring this war to an end. We support every such effort. When the Americans asked us to pause strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg on August 25, 26, and 27, we observed that pause. There… pic.twitter.com/wck56fwMUR
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 1, 2026

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