President Trump says he could meet with President Putin 'very soon'

According to RIA Novosti on February 17, US President Donald Trump said he could meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin "very soon".

"The date hasn't been set yet, but it could happen very soon," President Donald Trump told reporters when asked about the timing of a possible meeting between the two heads of state in Saudi Arabia.

According to the US leader, he saw that Mr. Putin wanted to resolve the conflict in Ukraine “quickly.” Mr. Trump explained that he asked his Russian counterpart directly about this issue in a recent conversation.

"I think he wants to get this done and he wants to get it done quickly," Trump added, suggesting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had similar desires.

In addition, the US leader added that Russia wants to negotiate, otherwise this will be a "big problem for the US". According to Mr. Trump, Russia is a powerful country, has fought for a long time, "defeated Hitler, defeated Napoleon".

Mr. Trump revealed that Ukrainian President Zelensky will participate in the negotiations. At the same time, Mr. Trump expressed disagreement with Mr. Zelensky's statement that Russia is said to be threatening NATO.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Washington is Moscow's main partner in resolving the situation in Ukraine. President Trump later announced plans to meet with President Putin in Saudi Arabia, and high-level delegations from the US and Russia will prepare for a summit in the near future.