ISTANBUL

Moscow and Washington have reached a deal to hold a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump “in the coming days,” said a Putin aide on Thursday.

“At the suggestion of the American side, a deal was agreed in principle to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days,” Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow.

Saying that authorities from both countries have begun working towards the meeting, Ushakov added that the two sides also agreed, in principle, on the venue of the talks but that details would be given later.

Ushakov said "next week" has been considered a target date for the summit, but also that it is difficult to know how long preparations for the meeting will take.

"But the option of holding the meeting during the next week was considered, and we are quite positive about this option," he added.

Ushakov's remarks followed Trump saying Wednesday that there is a "good chance" he will meet with his Russian counterpart "soon."

Also Wednesday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff spoke with Putin in Moscow, just two days before hitting Trump's 10-day deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine, as of Friday, or face new sanctions.

Commenting on yesterday's meeting, Ushakov said Witkoff mentioned the possibility of a trilateral meeting involving Putin, Trump, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but added the matter was not specifically discussed and that Moscow left the topic "without comment."

"We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive," he went on to say.

The summit between Putin and Trump would be the first face-to-face meeting between the serving Russian and US presidents since a June 2021 meeting in Geneva between Putin and then-US President Joe Biden.