Trump and Putin to meet by the end of the month – media

Details of the meeting and the list of participants are still being worked out, but people briefed on the plans say the negotiating team will likely consist of national security advisers.

Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that senior officials from the United States and Russia will meet next week in Saudi Arabia to pave the way for a potential summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin by the end of the month.

The details of the meeting and the list of participants are reportedly still being worked out, but people briefed on the plans say the negotiating team will likely include national security advisers. The goal of the talks, one of the people said, is to set a date for Trump and Putin to meet before the start of the holy month of Ramadan in March.

Most Europeans have not yet been informed, according to another official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he knew nothing about the Saudi meeting and expressed concern that the plan was developed outside of Kyiv's control.

One Ukrainian official told Politico that the announcement of the Saudi talks came as a surprise to Kyiv, and there are no plans to send a Ukrainian delegation at this time.

US President Donald Trump himself announced on Thursday that a summit with Vladimir Putin in the Persian Gulf country would take place soon. And he said that Ukrainians would participate in it.