A high-stakes summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump has been agreed upon and is expected to take place in the coming days, a senior Kremlin official announced. The hastily arranged meeting comes amid reports of a detailed, U.S.-led proposal aimed at establishing a ceasefire in Ukraine, setting the stage for a pivotal moment in international diplomacy. While Putin has expressed readiness for the bilateral talks, he has signaled that the time is not yet right for a trilateral meeting that would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, confirmed that Moscow and Washington have finalized plans for the summit, scheduled between August 11 and 17, with a location already selected but yet to be publicly disclosed. The announcement followed a three-hour meeting between Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witcoff, which both sides described as “useful and constructive.” Several nations, including Turkey, the UAE, and Switzerland, had offered to host the talks, with Putin personally noting the UAE as a suitable venue. According to CNN, the summit was proposed by Putin, and President Trump has instructed his administration to organize it without delay.
Intrigue surrounding the summit has been fueled by a report from the Polish news portal Onet, which claims to have obtained a U.S. plan, allegedly coordinated with European allies, for resolving the conflict. The proposal reportedly outlines a ceasefire rather than a comprehensive peace treaty, and it suggests deferring the question of Russia’s territorial gains for 49 or 99 years, effectively freezing the conflict. In exchange, the plan could involve lifting most sanctions against Russia and eventually resuming energy cooperation. However, it notably omits security guarantees against future NATO expansion, a key demand from Moscow, and does not promise an end to military support for Ukraine.
The prospect of a deal has been met with cautious optimism and significant skepticism. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that for the first time, there is “specificity” regarding Russia’s potential demands for ending hostilities, centering on territorial issues. However, conflicting reports have emerged, with The New York Post citing a White House source who claimed that Trump would only meet Putin if the Russian leader first agrees to a separate meeting with President Zelenskyy. The Kremlin has consistently stated that while a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting is possible, it requires significant groundwork and a clear agenda, which it claims Kyiv has yet to provide.
Analysts warn against unrealistic expectations for a meeting organized on such a tight schedule. Andrei Kortunov, an expert with the Valdai Discussion Club, noted that preparing a meaningful summit typically takes months, not days. He suggested that, at best, the meeting could serve as a crucial starting point for a broader peace process involving multiple negotiation formats with European and international participation. Kortunov also highlighted lingering questions about whether either side has shown genuine flexibility, pointing to the Trump administration’s continued imposition of secondary sanctions as a sign of unresolved tensions.
As the world awaits official confirmation of the time and place, the potential summit represents a significant diplomatic gamble. While it holds the promise of breaking a long-standing impasse and initiating a path toward de-escalation in Ukraine, the complex preconditions, conflicting signals, and immense diplomatic hurdles mean the talks could just as easily falter, leaving the fundamental disagreements between Russia, Ukraine, and the West unresolved.