US President Donald Trump has announced that he is prepared to hold another summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but only when Moscow is ready to pursue a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

His remarks came during an interaction with reporters at the Oval Office, where he emphasised that the timing of such a meeting must coincide with genuine progress towards ending the conflict.

Trump stated that Putin would agree to another summit, but he insisted that the meeting should not be rushed. “He’d do it. I want it, but I want to do it when we’re ready to do a peace deal,” he said.

He underlined that the United States seeks good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, noting that improved ties would also benefit business. “We want to have good relationship with Russia, Ukraine, with everybody. Be great for business,” he added.

The President clarified that while another meeting with Putin could be arranged immediately, he preferred to wait until the war was nearing its conclusion. “I want to do it when that war is ending, and I think we will,” he remarked.

He reiterated his long-standing view that the war should never have happened, claiming that if he had won the 2020 election, the conflict would not have occurred. He argued that during his first presidency, from 2016 to 2020, he had spoken with Putin regularly and believed there was “zero chance” of war at that time.

Trump said, “It’s a war that should have never happened. If the election weren’t rigged in 2020, that war would have never happened. And it didn’t happen for four years. I was there 2016 to 2020, and I would talk to Putin; it would have never happened. Zero chance.

And when I left, I saw what was going on and I said, ‘I think these guys are going to go to war.’ I thought it was crazy; it wouldn’t have happened.” He also noted the “tremendous animosity” between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but suggested that the time for peace talks was approaching.

The last summit between Trump and Putin took place in Alaska in August 2025. It was the first direct meeting between US and Russian leaders since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Although the Alaska summit ended without a signed agreement or ceasefire, both sides acknowledged progress. Trump said the two sides had agreed on “many points,” while Putin noted that they had reached a mutual understanding on key security concerns.

Trump has now made clear that any future summit with Putin must be tied to the prospect of a peace agreement, rather than simply serving as another high-level diplomatic engagement.

His comments signal that Washington is positioning itself to play a central role in shaping the eventual endgame of the war, but only when Moscow demonstrates readiness to negotiate.

ANI