Trump says he will meet with Putin Aug. 15 in Alaska

President Donald Trump announced Friday he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the White House presses for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump told reporters during a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan he will meet with Putin “very shortly.”

Later, Trump announced on social media the meeting will be Aug. 15 in Alaska.

It would be the first U.S.-Russia bilateral meeting since former President Joe Biden met with Putin in 2021, months before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin said Thursday a meeting between the two leaders would occur “in the coming days,” and Trump has privately told European counterparts he planned to meet with Putin in person.

The announcement opens a new avenue for negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Trump has increasingly expressed displeasure with Putin in recent months over what he sees as efforts to prolong the war.

“My instinct really tells me that we have a shot at it,” Trump said Friday about the likelihood of an agreement.

Trump had set Friday as a deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine or else face secondary sanctions from the U.S. On Wednesday, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in which “great progress was made,” the president said on social media afterwards.

On Thursday, Trump said he would not force Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet as a requirement for a Trump-Putin meeting, contradicting a previous statement from the White House.