Head-to-head: Putin and Trump have agreed on a meeting

On Thursday, August 7, it became known about the upcoming meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. This was announced by Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. According to the latest information, preparations for the meeting have begun and even the venue has been determined. However, it is not known how long it will take for approval. The next week is marked as a landmark. For more information about the upcoming meeting of the leaders of the Russian Federation and the United States, as well as possible topics for discussion, see the Izvestia article.

The meeting between Putin and Trump: what is known

Russia and the United States have agreed to hold a personal meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. This was announced on Thursday, August 7, by Yuri Ushakov.

"At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was agreed in principle to hold a bilateral summit in the coming days, that is, a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump," he said.

He also added that the parties have already started working on the summit, but at the moment it is difficult to say how long it will take. As a guideline, the date of the meeting is next week (August 11-17). It is reported that the meeting place has already been agreed, but it will be announced later.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and special representative of the President of Russia for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, noted on social networks that the negotiations could become historic.

On the eve of August 6, Stephen Witkoff, the special envoy of the head of the White House, arrived in Russia on a visit, his talks with Vladimir Putin lasted three hours. During the discussion, he proposed the idea of a trilateral meeting between the presidents of Russia, the United States and Vladimir Zelensky, but Moscow left it without comment.

What to expect from the meeting between Putin and Trump

Ivan Pyatibratov, an associate professor at the Financial University, told Izvestia that the agreement to hold talks between the leaders of the two countries could be called a PR success for Trump.

— In this case, the summit will be held one-on-one with Vladimir Putin. Trump can present it as his own diplomatic victory: they sat down with him at the negotiating table, he plays a big role in all these processes, he is considered an equal, the expert believes.

As Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada, noted, Trump now really needs this meeting to distract attention from the scandal surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein case.

The case of the dead man: Epstein's files have become the main item on the agenda in the United States

The White House's tactics are splitting the Republican electorate

According to Ivan Pyatibratov, although the presidents will discuss the possibility of resolving the conflict in Ukraine, there are no signs yet that the positions of Russia and the United States are getting closer. As Vladimir Vasiliev added, the presidents may also raise the issue of a change of power in Kiev.

— Here, of course, Ukraine itself is a stumbling block. Moscow has repeatedly demonstrated gestures of goodwill, but Kiev either violated the agreements each time or did not accept them at all, and for this reason nothing happened," the source adds.

The expert also recalled Trump's idea to hold trilateral talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine. But, according to Ivan Pyatibratov, such a scenario seems much less likely.

— They did not even comment on the possibility of a trilateral meeting from the Russian side, because a dialogue between Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, even with the mediation of the United States, is possible only if there really is something to agree on. Now, at best, we are talking about forming some kind of framework," the expert believes.

As for Trump's rhetoric about new anti-Russian sanctions, according to Ivan Pyatibratov, in this way the American leader raises the stakes and tries to prove the seriousness of his intentions in case negotiations fail.

In addition to the Ukrainian case, business, trade, and cooperation (for example, in the development of rare earths) can also be discussed, Ivan Pyatibratov believes.

— It is important for Donald Trump to achieve something significant during this meeting, which he will be able to present to the domestic American consumer as his diplomatic victory. He needs to come back with some kind of deal or a deal arrangement," the expert concluded.

The deeper meaning of the upcoming meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, according to Vladimir Vasiliev, may be to reach some agreements on the Moscow-Washington line, and then transfer them to Kiev. The expert also did not rule out the possibility that everything could go wrong at the last moment.

Meetings and telephone conversations between Putin and Trump: when did they take place

All personal meetings between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump took place during the first presidential term of the head of the White House (2017-2021). The last of them took place on December 1 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina, then they had a brief informal conversation. The negotiations were last held on July 16, 2018 in Helsinki. Then the leaders of the Russian Federation and the United States talked in private for more than two hours, and then the meeting continued with the participation of the foreign ministers of the two countries. At the final press conference, the presidents stated that they had discussed the issue of nuclear disarmament, the situation in Ukraine, the problem of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Tehran, and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. No agreements were announced at the end of the summit.

In 2025, Trump became the head of the White House again and actively began to advocate for the end of the conflict in Ukraine. In the spring, he had several telephone conversations with Vladimir Putin. The last of them took place on July 3, 2025, when the presidents exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine and the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, and also confirmed their interest in joint economic projects, in particular, in energy and space.