Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday the United Arab Emirates is one possible site for his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Putin made the announcement in the Kremlin after his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the UAE. A Kremlin official said earlier that a Trump-Putin meeting could take place as early as next week, although no date has been confirmed.

The announcement of a summit came on the eve of a White House deadline for Moscow to show progress toward ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that a meeting between the two leaders has been agreed, possibly to take place next week at a venue that has been decided “in principle.”

He brushed aside the possibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joining the summit, something the White House had said Trump was ready to consider. Putin has spurned Zelensky’s previous offers of a meeting to clinch a breakthrough.

“We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive,” Ushakov said, adding that US special envoy Steve Witkoff's suggestion of a meeting including Ukraine's leader “was not specifically discussed.”

It was not clear how the announcement of the meeting would affect Trump's Friday deadline for Russia to stop the killing or face heavy economic sanctions.

The meeting would be the first US-Russia summit since 2021, when former President Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva. It would be a significant milestone toward Trump’s effort to end the war, although there’s no guarantee it would stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace.

Next week is the target date for a summit, Ushakov said, while noting that such events take time to organize and no date is confirmed. 

Months of US-led efforts have yielded no progress on stopping Russia's invasion of its neighbor. The war has killed tens of thousands of troops on both sides as well as more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.

Western officials have repeatedly accused Putin of stalling for time in peace negotiations to allow Russian forces time to capture more Ukrainian land. Putin previously has offered no concessions and will only accept a settlement on his terms.

A meeting between Putin and Trump on the war would be a departure from the Biden administration’s policy of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” -- a key demand from Kyiv.

At the start of his second term, Trump was conciliatory toward Putin, for whom he has long shown admiration, and even echoed some of his talking points on the war. But he recently has expressed increasing exasperation with Putin, criticizing the Kremlin leader for his unyielding stance on US-led peace efforts, and has threatened Moscow with new sanctions.

Zelensky Seeks European Involvement
Zelensky said he planned calls with European leaders Thursday to discuss the latest developments amid a flurry of diplomatic activity.

European countries must also be involved in finding a solution to the war on their own continent, he said on Telegram.

“Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same bold approach from the Russian side. It is time to end the war,” he added.

A ceasefire and long-term security guarantees are priorities in potential negotiation with Russia, he said on social media.

Securing a truce, deciding a format for a summit, and providing assurances for Ukraine’s future protection from invasion -- a consideration that must involve the US and Europe -- are crucial aspects to address, Zelensky said.

He noted that Russian strikes on civilians haven't eased off despite Trump publicly urging Putin to relent.

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