Leavitt explained what Trump meant by another "two weeks" for Putin

The United States hopes that Russia and Ukraine will begin direct talks next week in Istanbul, in line with US President Donald Trump's plans to end the Russia-Ukraine war, White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said at a briefing.

The journalist asked Leavitt to explain Trump's words that in two weeks he would know whether Russian dictator Vladimir Putin wanted to end the war.

"He [Trump] has been in office for four months. What does he think will happen in the next week and a half to two weeks that will change his mind?" the journalist asked.

"As I understand it, Russia and Ukraine will begin direct talks next week in Istanbul. And we believe that this meeting will take place. This is the meeting that the president has encouraged," Leavitt replied.

She reiterated that Trump wants "this conflict" to be resolved at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield. According to Leavitt, the US president has communicated this to "both leaders," both publicly and privately.

"Hopefully next week we'll get out of this rut," Leavitt said.

She did not answer the journalist's next question about whether the US plans to participate in the negotiations.

"We will let you know if the president plans to send a representative. I'm not tracking that right now," she replied.

• The Kremlin promised to present a "memorandum" with its vision of steps towards a ceasefire immediately after the major prisoner exchange that ended on May 25 , but has not done so to this day . Meanwhile, Kyiv has already handed over its document to Moscow .
• On May 29, it became known that the next meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations could take place on June 2 in Istanbul. The composition of the Russian delegation will not change.