The news that appeared in the media yesterday about the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is today a leading topic in the Western press.
V. "Daily Telegraph" draws attention to Trump's words that he is ready to meet with Putin without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attending the meeting. In this way, the US president distances himself from the earlier promise that he would only participate in trilateral negotiations.
"Telegraph" also focuses on the words of Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov, who said that Putin and Trump will meet "in the coming days". There are indications that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may host the meeting, the daily notes.
Putin has made it clear that he is not yet ready to meet with Zelensky in the near future. "Telegraph" quotes the Russian president as saying: "For this to happen, certain prerequisites must be in place. Unfortunately, we are still far from these prerequisites".
The planned meeting between Trump and Putin will be their first in seven years, the "Daily Telegraph" points out.
Putin said he hopes to meet with the US president next week, possibly in the UAE, the "Independent" newspaper writes.
The British publication draws attention to the words of Yuri Ushakov that the prospect of a three-way meeting between Trump-Putin-Zelensky "for some reason was mentioned by Washington", although such a thing was not discussed with the Kremlin.
"Independent" cites in this regard Trump's clarification that Putin would not need to meet with Zelensky in order to meet with the American leader.
A face-to-face meeting would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met with Putin in Geneva in June 2021, eight months before Russia launched its biggest attack on a European country since World War II, the British newspaper notes.
The mixed signals, sometimes reaching contradictory statements from the White House and the Kremlin regarding the leaders' demands and the state of planning, are an indication of a chaotic new chapter in Trump's attempts to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine, writes the "Guardian" newspaper.
The British publication notes that it has not yet been announced where the potential bilateral meeting between Trump and Putin will take place, but quotes the words of Putin, who met with the president of UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the Emirates would be a suitable venue for the meeting.
The prospect of a meeting between Putin and Trump aimed at reaching an agreement on Ukraine without the presence of other people in the negotiating room is likely to cause concern in Kiev and European capitals, which have consistently maintained that Ukraine should be present at the negotiations for its own destiny, the Guardian points out.
For Putin, the meeting with Trump is key to achieving the goals he has set for himself in Ukraine, the New York Times writes.
Trump's sharp reversal of dissatisfaction with Putin to a readiness for a face-to-face meeting soon, even though the Russian leader continues to attack Ukraine and does not give up his main military goals, has become a diplomatic success for Putin, the Washington Post writes.