Trump says he’ll meet Putin soon

Abu Dhabi: President Donald Trump said Friday he’s moving to set up direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as he can.

Trump’s push for a face-to-face meeting comes after Putin opted to skip talks between Russia and Ukraine set for Friday in Turkiye. “I think it’s time for us to just do it,” Trump told reporters as he wrapped a four-day visit to the Middle East. Trump reiterated that he wasn’t surprised that Putin skipped out on the talks. Putin didn’t want to go because he’s not there, Trump said. Trump added that he would hold a meeting with Putin “as soon as we can set it up.”

“I would actually leave here and go,” said Trump, who noted his daughter Tiffany just gave birth to her first child. “I do want to see my beautiful grandson.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to take part in the talks as Trump pressed for the leaders to find a solution. But Putin spurned the call to meet face-to-face with Zelenskyy.

Trump has pressed both sides to quickly come to a war-ending agreement. Zelenskyy has agreed to an American plan for an initial 30-day halt to hostilities, but Russia has not signed on and has continued to strike at targets

inside Ukraine.