Donald Trump said Sunday he held “productive” talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin just hours before meeting Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, framing the discussions as part of a year-end push to secure a deal to end the war.
Trump's renewed upbeat tone comes despite wide skepticism in Europe about Putin's intentions after Russia carried out another massive bombardment of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv just as Zelenskyy was heading to Trump's Florida estate.
"I just had a very good and productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia," Trump announced on his Truth Social platform.
Trump is set to meet Zelenskyy at 1 p.m. (6 p.m. GMT) in the dining room of his Mar-a-Lago estate, where he frequently brings both foreign guests and domestic supporters.
Trump has made ending the Ukraine war a centerpiece of his second term as a self-proclaimed "president of peace," and he has repeatedly blamed both Kyiv and Moscow for the failure to secure a cease-fire.
