Trump May Meet Putin in February in Stunning Setback for Ukraine, Europe

President Donald Trump may meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia by the end of the month, with officials from each country to meet next week to sort out final details, according to reports.

Newsweek reached out to the White House and National Security Council by email on Sunday afternoon for comment.

Why It Matters

Trump promised during his campaign that he would seek a swift end to the Russia-Ukraine war if he won a second term. Shortly after securing victory in last year's presidential election, he called the leaders of both nations to start seeking common ground for a peace deal.

However, since taking office, Trump has signaled a major change in the U.S. position, suggesting that membership into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for Ukraine is not probable and has emphasized prioritizing U.S. security and border protection over NATO commitments and willingness to defend Europe.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week at a NATO press conference in Brussels said that the U.S. would seek "durable peace by coupling allied strength with a realistic assessment of the battlefield," which he argued would mean that "returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective."

What To Know

Saudi Arabia last week expressed willingness to host a summit between Trump and Putin, inviting parties from the U.S., Ukraine and Russia to gather in Riyadh to discuss how to end the conflict, which began in February 2022.

Trump said he will "probably" meet Putin in the Kingdom in the "not-too-distant future," but on Sunday Bloomberg reported that the meeting could occur before the end of the month.

Trump and Putin last met face-to-face on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic made international travel and in-person meetings impossible, and Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

In an interview with CNN, also broadcast on Sunday, Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said: "I would not be surprised if we see the summit by the end of this month."

"There are some details to be hammered out, but the Russian approach is not topped out," Gabuev said. "It's not the kind of traditional way that the American foreign policy works, that all of the details before the leaders meet will need to be hammered out and agreed and then the leaders only give the blessing and discuss the remaining outstanding issues."

He added: "This time around, the Russians really want an unscripted meeting along the kind of very broad lines that have been agreed and that, it seems to them, it's something that President Trump wants, too."

The U.S. and Russia are working out final details, but Bloomberg reported that most European officials have not been informed about the meeting, citing an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Officials from Ukraine are expected to attend, along with national security advisers, but it remains unclear if Kyiv is being kept in the planning loop.

However, Trump last week indicated that Ukraine would be involved in the summit while plans remained up in the air.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a sit-down interview with NBC News' Kristen Welker said that he "will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never. And our people, never."

"There is no leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us about us," he said.

The U.S. team will likely be headed up by national security adviser Michael Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to people familiar with current thinking. Russia is likely to include Yuri Ushakov, his chief Kremlin foreign policy advisor, and spymaster Sergei Naryshkin, as well as financier Kirill Dmitriev, who may play a role as an unofficial back-channel with Trump's negotiators, Bloomberg reported.

What People Are Saying

President Donald Trump, speaking on the tarmac while departing from the Daytona 500, told reporters: "I think he [Putin] wants to stop fighting. We spoke long and hard.... I think he wants to stop fighting." He added, about Zelensky's involvement: "He will be involved, yes."

Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, told CBS News host Margaret Brennan on Sunday: "There is absolutely no way that Donald Trump will be seen—he will not let himself go down in history as having sold out to Putin. He will not let that happen."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state-controlled TV on Thursday, per Reuters, "One way or another, of course, Ukraine will participate in the negotiations," adding, "There will be a bilateral Russian-American track of this dialogue, and a track that will be related to Ukraine's involvement."

The Saudi foreign ministry in a statement: "The kingdom expresses its welcome to hosting the summit in Saudi Arabia, and reaffirms its ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine."

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, said at the Munich Security Conference on Friday: "For the Senate, there is a strong majority, supermajority, in favor of supporting Ukraine, seeing this through and making sure that this does not come off as a win for Putin and embolden him further."

What Happens Next?

Both the U.S. and Russia will reportedly have officials meet in Saudi Arabia next week to discuss final arrangements and personnel before setting a final date. Both sides are reportedly keen to lock in a date for the meeting before March, which is when Ramadan starts.

Update 2/16/25, 3:20 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update 2/16/25, 4:38 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from President Donald Trump.