U.S. President Donald Trump warned he would impose “very severe consequences” if Russian leader Vladimir Putin didn’t agree to a ceasefire agreement later this week, following a call with European leaders ahead of his meeting with the Russian president.
Trump also said he hoped to use the Friday meeting to set up a “quick second meeting” with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy after allies pressed him to push for such a summit.
“There’s a very good chance that we’re going to have a second meeting which will be more productive than the first,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the Kennedy Center, adding that he was “setting the table for the second meeting.”
The president’s remarks signaled both that he was looking to downplay expectations for the delivery of a full peace deal from his