They have not been seen for six years: Donald Trump could meet Vladimir Putin in the flesh in the coming days to try to end the war in Ukraine launched by Russia.
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Here is what we know about these possible reunions.
An “agreement in principle”
Their last meeting dates back to June 2019 on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Japan, during the first mandate of the Republican President. Donald Trump said he was ready to see Vladimir Putin on Thursday while the Kremlin announced that a “agreement in principle” for a meeting “in the coming days” had been found.
The American president resumed in touch in February with his Russian counterpart after his return to the White House, in the hope of quickly arrested the war launched in 2022 by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
But, faced with the blocking of negotiations between Moscow and kyiv, he has been more and more frustrated against Vladimir Putin, launching him an ultimatum to find a way out of the conflict, under penalty of new American sanctions.
While this ultimatum is due to expire on Friday, diplomatic efforts accelerated this week and the emissary of Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, was received Wednesday by Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
The place not yet decided
Vladimir Putin said Thursday, alongside his emirati counterpart whom he received in Moscow, Mohammed Ben Zayed, that the United Arab Emirates could welcome his meeting with Donald Trump.
But this possibility has not, for the time being, not confirmed by Washington. An American official at the White House, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that the meeting place had not yet been decided and that it could take place next week.
Asked Thursday in the oval office, Donald Trump did not provide more elements at the place of a meeting.
And concerning the maintenance or not of his ultimatum launched in Moscow, who must expire on Friday, the American president dodged: “It will depend on Putin, we will see what he will say.”
“Very disappointed,” he continued, seeming to talk about his Russian counterpart. In July, he had already said himself “disappointed” several times by the chief of the Kremlin.
Celetsky Pasing?
For the Ukrainian president, a meeting between him and Vladimir Putin is a “priority”. He believes that he “is legitimate that Ukraine participates in negotiations” in a tripartite format.
But the Russian leader refuses to see his Ukrainian counterpart, believing that the “conditions” are not met for a tête-à-tête: Moscow judges that such an encounter only makes sense in the final phase of peace negotiations.
As for Donald Trump, his answer was clear: on the question if he thought that Vladimir Putin had to speak with Volodymyr Zelensky first before meeting him, the American president replied “no”.
The two leaders “would like to meet me, and I will do everything I can to stop the killing,” he added.
The Ukrainian head of state spoke on the phone on Thursday with Donald Trump, a conversation in which several European leaders had taken part.
Mr. Zelensky asked that Europeans be included in the peace negotiations on Ukraine, from which they have so far been kept away despite the efforts of Paris, Berlin and London.
Irreconcilable positions
Between Russia and Ukraine, the positions are still at the antipodes. The latest cycle of direct negotiations in Istanbul in July had only led to a new exchange of prisoners and remains of soldiers. At the same time, Russia continues its fatal air attacks on Ukraine, where it nibbles every day on the front.
Moscow claims that Ukraine gives him four partially occupied regions (those of Donetsk, Lougansk, Zaporijjia and Kherson), in addition to the Crimea annexed in 2014, and that it renounces Western arms deliveries and any membership in NATO.
Unacceptable requirements for kyiv, who wants the withdrawal of Russian troops and Western security guarantees, including the pursuit of arms deliveries and the deployment of a European contingent, to which Russia is opposed.
Ukraine also asks, in concert with its European allies, a 30-day ceasefire, which the Russians refuse.