President Putin reveals meeting location for Mr. Trump, sets conditions for meeting Mr. Zelensky

According to the Kremlin, a face-to-face meeting between the Russian and US presidents could take place as early as next week.

RT reported that after talks in Moscow with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on August 7, when asked about the location of the Summit with US President Trump, Mr. Putin said that Russia has "many friends" ready to support and the UAE is an option.

"One of our friends is the President of the UAE. I think we will decide, but this will be one of the quite suitable locations," Mr. Putin shared.

Commenting on who initiated the plan to hold a Russia-US Summit, Mr. Putin said that interest had been shown "from both sides" and "who spoke first is no longer important."

Expectations for a direct meeting between the two leaders of Russia and the US increased after the visit to Moscow by US special envoy Steve Witkoff on August 6. The White House described this visit as "very productive". Mr. Witkoff is said to have proposed the idea of ​​a three-way meeting with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Asked directly if he would be willing to meet Mr Zelensky, Mr Putin replied: "In general, I have no objections. It is possible. But certain conditions must be met. Unfortunately, we are still very far from those conditions."

Moscow has repeatedly expressed concerns about Mr Zelensky’s legal authority to sign binding agreements, as his presidential term ends in 2024, but he has not called new elections because Ukraine is under martial law.

Sharing on the Telegram channel on August 7, Mr. Zelensky said that Ukraine is ready to negotiate with Russia to resolve the conflict, including with a third party. "Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects a similar bold approach from Russia. It is time to end the conflict," Mr. Zelensky emphasized.