AFP reports that Putin has agreed to meet with Zelensky. Trump wants to get it done as soon as possible

The Russian dictator Vladimir Putin told the US President To Donald Trump on his readiness to meet with the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. About reports AFP, citing a person familiar with the conversation.

According to the source, Putin informed Trump of his willingness to meet with Zelensky during a phone call during a break between the White House's talks in Washington with European leaders.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed at a briefing after the talks at the White House that preparations are underway first for his meeting with Putin and then for a trilateral meeting with Trump.

"The President of the United States has supported a trilateral meeting at the level of the leaders of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia. And the United States proposes to hold it as soon as possible. But this requires the consent of all parties," the President said.

Zelenskyy also said that Russia had proposed a bilateral meeting first, and then a trilateral meeting.

"I confirmed, and I was supported by all European leaders, that we are ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin. And after that, we are looking forward to a trilateral meeting. The question will be how the bilateral meeting will go," Zelenskyy said.

He also noted that the date of the meeting has not been set, but Ukraine is ready for any format, but at the level of presidents.

At the same time, Zelensky added that there is an understanding of what formats could be possible, so "there is a possibility that our meeting can take place."

"If Ukraine starts to set global conditions for the meeting, certainly fair ones, such as the ceasefire and so on, then the Russians will have a hundred conditions on their part. Therefore, I believe that we should meet without any conditions and think about the development of this path to the end of the war," the president said.

After the talks, Trump wrote on his Truth Social social network about a phone conversation with Putin and the beginning of preparations for a meeting between the latter and Zelensky.

The US president said that first the Ukrainian president would meet with the Russian dictator, and only then would there be a trilateral meeting.

Regarding talks with partners, he noted that he had a "very good meeting with distinguished guests" at the White House, which ended with further talks in the Oval Office.

• august 18 between Trump, Zelensky and European leaders took place a meeting at the White House.
• During the meeting, Zelensky showed the president Trump should put the real situation with the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia on the map.
• During the talks, Zelenskyy, Trump and the Europeans discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, which will be provided by various European countries in coordination with the United States.