Russia
Diplomatic efforts paved the way for Trump-Putin meet
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he hopes to meet US President Donald Trump in latest bid by the White House to broker an end to the 3-year-old war in Ukraine.
Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said a meeting could take place as early as next week, although he noted that such events take time to organize. No date is confirmed.
He also played down the possibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joining the summit.
No location has been determined, according to a White House official who was not authorized to talk publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said a Trump-Putin meeting would not happen if the Russian leader does not agree to meet with Zelensky.
A meeting between Putin and Trump would be the first US-Russia summit since former US president Joe Biden met with the Kremlin leader in 2021. There's no guarantee a Trump-Putin meeting would lead to the end of the fighting, since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace.
Here are the key events that shaped efforts to end the war since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022:
February 28, 2022
Ukrainian and Russian delegations meet in neighbouring Belarus for the first time since the invasion. Talks continue for the next two weeks, but no agreements emerge other than a decision to set up humanitarian corridors for civilians.
March 21, 2022
Zelensky calls for direct talks with Putin but is rebuffed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. A day later, Zelensky says he is prepared to discuss a commitment for Ukraine to not to seek NATO membership in exchange for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian troops and a guarantee of Ukraine's security.
March 29, 2022
Talks begin in Istanbul, with Moscow saying it's willing to "fundamentally cut back" military activity near Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv. Kyiv said it was open to discussing neutral status for Ukraine if its security is backed by other nations.
April 7, 2022
Lavrov rejects a Ukrainian peace proposal as "unacceptable." He says Kyiv has walked back on an agreement to exempt the Crimean Peninsula from wider Ukrainian security guarantees. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
July 22, 2022
Russia and Ukraine, with mediation by Turkey and the UN, agree on a deal to unblock supplies of grain stuck in Ukraine's Black Sea ports, ending a standoff that threatened global food security. The deal expires a year later.
September 30, 2022
Russia illegally annexes the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, even though it doesn't fully control any of them. Ukraine responds by applying to join NATO and by enacting a decree that declares negotiations with Putin "impossible."
December 7, 2024
US president-elect Donald Trump meets Zelensky and other European leaders in Paris.
February 12, 2025
Trump and Putin agree to begin negotiations on ending the Ukraine war in a phone call that ends a three-year, US-led effort to isolate Russia over Ukraine.
February 18, 2025
Russian and US officials, including Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meet in Saudi Arabia and agree to work toward ending the war, as well as restoring bilateral ties. Ukrainian officials are not invited.
February 28, 2025
Zelensky meets with Trump, Rubio and US Vice President JD Vance in a contentious session in the Oval Office. A proposed minerals deal between the countries is left unsigned.
March 11, 2025
US and Ukrainian officials meet in Saudi Arabia, with American officials putting forward a plan for a 30-day ceasefire. Kyiv agrees to the proposed truce.
March 13, 2025
Putin effectively rejects the ceasefire plan, stating certain issues must be resolved. He also meets with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow. Witkoff would travel to Russia twice more in April to meet Putin.
March 18, 2025
A proposal is put forward for a temporary halt on strikes on energy infrastructure. Both sides agree to the plan, but soon accuse each other of violations, and the measure later expires.
April 19, 2025
Putin announces a 30-hour ceasefire to mark the Easter holiday, although attacks continue across Ukraine.
April 28, 2025
The Kremlin declares a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 8 to mark Russia's Victory Day celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Kyiv does not agree, preferring a 30-day truce proposed by US officials. Both sides accuse each other of violating it.
May 11, 2025
Putin proposes restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul "without preconditions" but does not agree to the 30-day ceasefire. Zelensky challenges Putin to meet in Turkey.
May 15, 2025
Russian and Ukrainian delegations meet for direct talks in Istanbul for the first time since early 2022. Subsequent meetings are held on June 2 and July 23, but aside from ongoing exchanges of prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers, no substantive progress is made on key issues.
July 14, 2025
Trump says he will implement "severe tariffs" on Russia and countries that continue to buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days. Two weeks later, on July 28, he says that he will shorten that deadline to 10-12 days.
August 6, 2025
Witkoff visits Moscow and meets with Putin two days before Trump's deadline. Later that day, a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal plans says Trump and Putin could soon meet in person. A day later, the Kremlin confirms the planned meeting but does not set a date.
