Trump says he expects to meet Putin and Zelensky soon

US President Donald Trump said on 28 October that he expects to hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky soon. He told journalists this and promised the meeting would be arranged "in the very near future."

Trump did not give a date or place for the meeting. According to one source, talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine are due to take place in Abu Dhabi soon; how these talks relate to the meeting Trump spoke about has not been disclosed. The US president's words from his conversation with journalists on the morning of 28 October are quoted by the Ukrainian outlet RBC-Ukraine, citing a broadcast.

Trump said: "We are making great progress on Russia and Ukraine. A meeting will be arranged very soon, and I think great progress will be made." When asked which meeting exactly he meant, he replied: "A meeting with President Putin and with President Zelensky." He did not specify the format of the meeting.

According to Trump, significant progress has been made in settling the war between Russia and Ukraine. He did not name any specific agreements. In August 2025, during a meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office, Trump said that Putin wants the conflict to end.

Trump has spoken about a meeting soon before. On 19 August 2025 he said he hoped Putin and Zelensky would meet before the end of August.

Belarus is not directly named in these negotiations. In July 2022, Alexander Lukashenka described Belarus's role in the Russia–Ukraine conflict as peacemaking.