Vladimir Putin has said he will meet with Donald Trump after praising him for ‘changing his position’ when he ‘began to receive objective information’ – hours after Volodymyr Zelensky accused the US President of falling for Russian disinformation.
The Russian dictator welcomed Tuesday’s talks between Russian and American officials in Saudi Arabia, describing them as a ‘first step’ to restore relations with Washington.
‘I was briefed (on the talks). I rate them highly, there is a result,’ Putin said at a drone factory in Saint Petersburg, adding: ‘In my opinion, we made the first step to restore work in various areas of mutual interests’.
He said that securing a resolution to the conflict is a priority for Russia, but added that his country must build trust with the United States in order to achieve this.
‘It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States,’ Putin said in the televised meeting.
He added that Trump had told him that Ukraine will take part in future talks, without adding further detail.
While Trump suggested face-to-face talks between Putin and himself could be held before the end of the month, the Russian President said he was not ready to say when talks might take place.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv earlier today, President Zelensky criticised Washington’s thawing of relations with Moscow and pushed back on several unfounded claims made by the US president at a press conference last night.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) spoke to reporters as he visited a drone factory in St Petersburg today
Zelensky has blasted the United States for ‘helping’ Vladimir Putin ‘to come out of isolation’
Donald Trump appears to have blamed Ukraine for Russia ‘s invasion of the country, as he dismissed Volodymr Zelensky ‘s anger for being cut out of peace talks
Zelensky said he “would like Trump’s team to be more truthful” in response the US president’s striking claims – including the suggestion that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which enters its fourth year next week.
The Ukrainian President disputed Trump’s claims that the US has given Ukraine $500billion, calling the suggestion that Kyiv pay this back with a mineral exploration deal ‘not a serious conversation.’
‘Look, we all want a victory, and we want Trump to win, and we want Ukraine to win, all of us to succeed,’ he said. ‘But there is nothing clear here… I am protecting Ukraine. I can’t sell it away. I can’t sell our state.’
Moscow will have also welcomed Trump’s questioning of Zelensky’s legitimacy at last night’s briefing in Mar-a-Lago, where he suggested it had been ‘too long’ since Ukraine had held elections for him to have a seat at the negotiating table.
He insisted this point was ‘not a demand from Russia’ – but the claim came straight out of Moscow’s playbook, and failed to mention that Russia’s recent election in 2024 was rigged, with Putin’s foes killed, jailed or exiled.
Trump went on to falsely claim that the Ukrainian President is only supported by four per cent of Ukrainians.
Responding to theese claims, Zelensky said that the latest poll shows 58 per cent of Ukrainians trust him, adding that any attempt to replace him during the war would fail.
‘Unfortunately, President Trump – I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us – unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,’ Zelensky said.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier praised Trump for ‘publicly and loudly’ blaming the conflict on moves to admit Kyiv into the NATO military alliance, saying ‘he is the first… and only Western leader’ to do so.
Speaking to reporters last night, President Trump took aim at Zelensky for raising concerns that his country had not been at the table for talks between Washington and Moscow on Tuesday.
‘I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well. But today, I heard, “Oh, well, we weren’t invited.” Well, you’ve been there for three years,’ he said of Zelensky.
‘You should have ended it. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine.’
After the meeting between US and Russian officials in Riyadh, Trump said he was ‘much more confident’ that a peace deal could be struck.
‘They were very good,’ he said. ‘Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.’
The stunning claim came as Vladimir Putin’s forces launched a blistering aerial attack on the Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight, striking a children’s clinic and kindergarten and leaving much of the city without power.