Washington and Moscow are intensively working on a meeting between their heads of state as early as next week, as a Washington-much-wanted Russia-Ukraine truce hangs in the air.

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Washington and Moscow are intensively working on a meeting between their heads of state as early as next week, as a Washington-much-wanted Russia-Ukraine truce hangs in the air.

MEETING PENDING FOR NEXT WEEK

"The Russians expressed their desire to meet with (U.S.) President (Donald) Trump, and the President is open to this meeting," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Thursday.

The Kremlin said earlier Thursday that a meeting between Trump and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin had been agreed on in principle and would happen "in the coming days." The U.S. side initiated the push for the top-level talks, said Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov.

According to Ushakov, both sides are working to coordinate preparations for the meeting, as the venue has been agreed on and will be announced later.

Putin said he hopes the meeting to take place as early as next week, while the United Arab Emirates is mediating such a meeting to be held in the Gulf country.

Plans for a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders surfaced after Putin's three-hour working meeting with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff during the latter's visit to Moscow on Wednesday.

Upon his arrival at Moscow's airport, Witkoff was greeted by Putin's investment chief Kirill Dmitriev. Dmitriev said a Putin-Trump meeting will reinvigorate Russia-U.S. engagement. "We see vast potential for mutually beneficial collaboration, including with U.S. investors in Arctic projects, rare earth metals and infrastructure development," he said.

PUTIN-ZELENSKY MEETING RULED OUT

Asked by a reporter at the White House on Thursday afternoon whether Putin needs to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before sitting down with him, Trump said, "No, he doesn't."

Briefing Trump on his Moscow trip Wednesday, Witkoff said Putin would like to meet, and Trump responded that he was open to a meeting but also would want Putin to meet with Zelensky to discuss a ceasefire, said a White House official.

On the prospect of his meeting with Zelensky, Putin told the press on Thursday: "Unfortunately, we are still a long way from creating the necessary conditions."

"President Trump would like to meet with both President Putin and President Zelensky because he wants this brutal war to end," Leavitt said in the statement on Thursday, adding that the White House is "working through the details of these potential meetings, and details will be provided at the appropriate time."

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Trump has plans to follow his meeting with Putin shortly afterward with a trilateral meeting involving Zelensky.

According to the report, in a call Wednesday with European leaders, including Zelensky, Trump disclosed that the meeting with Putin would be as soon as next week and the White House-planned trilateral meeting would include himself, Putin and Zelensky, excluding any European counterpart.

Regarding the possibility of a trilateral meeting, Ushakov said Thursday that it was merely mentioned by the U.S. side during the Kremlin talks, "not specifically deliberated, and the Russian side has left this proposal entirely without comment."

NO CEASEFIRE IN SIGHT

Friday is the deadline Trump revised in late July from a 50-day window of time for Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine or face new tougher sanctions. Trump hinted Thursday afternoon that the deadline might not be as firm as previously stated.

"We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if the Friday deadline remains intact.

Issues related to Ukraine were discussed during the working meeting between Putin and Trump's special envoy Witkoff on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, describing the overall talks as "very useful and constructive."

Zelensky on Thursday said that finding a solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict can be "truly effective" at the level of leaders.

"It is necessary to determine the timing for such a format and the range of issues to be addressed," he said in a post on social media X, after having the phone conversation with Trump and several European leaders on Wednesday.

Zelensky said Ukraine will work toward peace "as productively as possible."

The last round of Russia-Ukraine talks held in Istanbul on July 23 concluded with no breakthrough towards a ceasefire but an agreement on another prisoner swap with civilian detainees included.

Russia and Ukraine remain quite apart from each other while exchanges of drone and missile attacks continue to inflict heavy casualties and infrastructure damage.