
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Protecting fragile objects has become the White House’s new agenda.
The White House announced a significant diplomatic breakthrough about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a direct, one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The announcement positions this bilateral meeting as a primary and critical phase of the peace process.
This development follows a recent phone conversation between President Trump and President Putin. While the meeting itself is structured to be exclusively between the two warring leaders, the White House tried to sneak the idea of Trump participating in an imaginary meeting that could happen after the upcoming meet-up. This is likely a way to keep him involved despite not being invited to this meeting.
According to Fox, the White House said, “President Trump spoke with President Putin by phone, and he agreed to begin the next phase of the peace process, a meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy, which would be followed, if necessary, by a trilateral meeting between President Putin, President Zelenskyy and President Trump.”
Puting will meet with Zelenskyy, and Trump is feeling left out
Officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, will try to help out as well. The White House said, they will “continue to coordinate with Russia and Ukraine to make this happen as soon as possible… I can assure you that the United States government and the Trump administration is working with both Russia and Ukraine to make that bilateral happen as we speak.”
The announcement of the upcoming bilateral meeting comes on the heels of several recent high-level diplomatic engagements. Just a day ago, President Zelenskyy and a number of European leaders had convened at the White House for a debriefing following a high-stakes summit President Trump held with President Putin in Alaska.
A sentiment shared by the Finnish President, Alexander Stubb, was that “I think in the past two weeks, we’ve probably had more progress in ending this war than we have in the past three-and-a-half years.” During a recent joint press conference, Putin made a statement that reinforced a point Trump has consistently made.
The Russian leader confirmed that Russia would not have initiated the conflict in Ukraine had President Trump not been defeated in the 2020 election. This comment adds another layer to the narrative, and may be more than meets the eye.
Published: Aug 21, 2025 03:34 am