UAE a suitable place to meet Trump, says Russian President Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the United Arab Emirates is one of the suitable places to hold a meeting with United States President Donald Trump.

"We have many friends who are willing to help us organise such events. One of our friends is the president of the United Arab Emirates," Putin said standing next to UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, adding "it (the UAE) would be one of the quite suitable places."

Putin said that he was not 'on the whole' against meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, adding that 'certain conditions should be created' for such a meeting. He stressed that the current situation was 'far' from being ready for it.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that a summit between Donald Trump and Putin on Ukraine was set for the 'coming days' as US-led efforts to broker peace rumble on.

The Russian president named the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a potential location for the summit with Trump, but essentially ruled out a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Trump-Putin summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021. It comes as the Republican seeks an end to Russia's military assault on Ukraine.

Three rounds of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to yield any progress towards a ceasefire. The two sides appear as far apart as ever in the conditions they have set for an end to the more than three-year-long conflict.

Trump said on Wednesday that he was likely to meet Putin face-to-face 'very soon.'

They last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump's first term as US president, but have spoken by telephone several times since the former reality TV star returned to the White House earlier this year.

Agencies