US president told top advisers trilateral meeting would take place after leaders of the two countries have met first

Trump steps back from Russia and Ukraine peace talks for now, sources say

US president told top advisers trilateral meeting would take place after leaders of the two countries have met first Hugo Lowell in Washington Thu 21 Aug 2025 06.00 EDT

Donald Trump intends to leave Russia and Ukraine to organize a meeting between their leaders without directly playing a role for now, according to administration officials familiar with the situation, taking a step back from the negotiations to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The next stage in Trump’s eyes to end the war in Ukraine remains a bilateral meeting between Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, the officials said.

Trump has told advisers in recent days that he intends to host a trilateral meeting with the two leaders only after they have met first, although whether that initial conference takes place remains unclear and Trump does not intend to become involved in that effort.

In a phone interview with talk show host Mark Levin on WABC on Tuesday, Trump also said he thought it would be better for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet without him in the first instance. “I just want to see what happens at the meeting. So they’re in the process of setting it up and we’re going to see what happens.”

Trump’s reluctance to push Putin and Zelenskyy to a meeting comes as he has acknowledged in recent days that ending the war in Ukraine has been more difficult than he had anticipated, after saying on the campaign trail last year he could achieve it in 24 hours.

He has since sought a quick peace agreement after his deadline for Russia to end the war expired this month and said after his meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House on Monday that he had initiated steps for a bilateral meeting.

A senior administration official characterized the situation as Trump taking a “wait-and-see approach” to whether a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting could be scheduled. But there have been few tangible signs in recent days of progress and the White House does not have a shortlist of locations where the meeting could take place.