• The White House is denying the Kremlin claim that a Trump-Putin meeting has been finalized or a location secured.

The White House has made clear that any potential summit involving President Trump, Russian President Putin, and Ukrainian President Zelenskiy is conditional on Putin first meeting with Zelenskiy. This comes after Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov stated that a Trump-Putin bilateral meeting is in the works and could take place within days, explicitly excluding Zelenskiy from the talks. Earlier this week, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow and proposed a three-way summit including Zelenskiy.

For his part, Zelenskiy has insisted that both Ukraine and the European Union must be part of any peace negotiations, emphasizing Ukraine’s ongoing EU accession process. The deadline set by President Trump for Russia to advance peace efforts is this Friday. Failure to make progress would trigger severe new sanctions.

Adding pressure, Trump on Wednesday announced a 25% tariff hike on Indian exports to the U.S. in response to India’s continued purchases of Russian oil. The move underscores the administration’s aggressive stance on curbing Russian energy influence, with Trump warning that countries doing business with Moscow will face harsh penalties.