Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 3, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleTrump plans new talks on Ukraine conflict after a failed summit with Putin. European leaders to join discussions, with potential new sanctions on Russia.
By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he plans to hold talks about the war in Ukraine in coming days after his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August failed to achieve a breakthrough.
Trump has been frustrated at his inability to get a halt to the fighting, which began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after he initially predicted he would be able to end the war swiftly when he took office last January.
Trump said he would be holding talks in the next few days. A White House official said Trump is expected to speak on the phone on Thursday with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The French presidency said earlier on Wednesday that several European leaders, including Zelenskiy and France's Emmanuel Macron, would call Trump on Thursday afternoon.
That call was expected to follow a mostly virtual meeting on Thursday, hosted by France, of some 30 countries to discuss their latest efforts to provide Ukraine with security support once there is a peace agreement with Russia. The European leaders were also expected to denounce Moscow's unwillingness for negotiations.
Putin has shown little interest in ending the war after he and Trump voiced optimism about making progress during their meeting in Anchorage on Aug. 16.
"I have no message to President Putin," Trump told reporters at the White House as he met Polish President Karol Nawrocki.
"He knows where I stand and he'll make a decision one way or another. Whatever his decision is, we'll either be happy about it or unhappy about it and if we're unhappy about it, you'll see things happen," he said.
Trump did not explain what he meant, but he has talked about the possibility of imposing more sanctions on Russia.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve HollandEditing by Nick Zieminski)
Trump plans to hold talks about the war in Ukraine in the coming days, including a phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Several European leaders, including Zelenskiy and France's Emmanuel Macron, are expected to call Trump on Thursday afternoon.
Trump has expressed frustration at his inability to halt the fighting in Ukraine, which began with Russia's invasion in February 2022.
Putin has shown little interest in ending the war, despite initial optimism expressed during his meeting with Trump.
Trump has discussed the possibility of imposing more sanctions on Russia, although he did not elaborate on specific measures.
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