Trump says he expects to speak with Putin ‘in near future’, calls Ukraine war ‘more difficult’ to resolve

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday, September 4, that he expects to hold another conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin “in the near future,” as he continues to push for a breakthrough in ending the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at a White House event with technology executives, Trump noted that more than 7,000 lives were lost in just the past week, underscoring the urgency of a resolution.

Trump says he is having a 'very good dialogue' with Zelensky

Asked about his next steps following a separate discussion earlier in the day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump replied, “I will be, yeah. We’re having a very good dialogue.”

“We’ll get it done,” the president declared. “This one turned out to be more difficult, but we’re going to get it done.”

Trump has repeatedly asserted since taking office that he could resolve the war quickly, but attempts at progress have stalled.

Trump waits on Putin–Zelensky breakthrough

In a separate interview with CBS News on Wednesday, Donald Trump confirmed he has been in communication with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, though he cautioned that the parties are “not ready yet” to sit down for negotiations.

“I’ve been watching it, I’ve been seeing it, and I’ve been talking about it with President Putin and President Zelensky,” Trump said. “Something is going to happen, but they are not ready yet. But something is going to happen.”

The White House has been exploring the possibility of a trilateral meeting involving Trump, Putin, and Zelensky, but uncertainty remains over whether a face-to-face encounter between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders can be arranged as a preliminary step.

Trump hosts tech executives at White House

The comments came during a formal dinner with prominent technology executives at the White House. Trump sat at the center of the long dining table, flanked by first lady Melania Trump on one side and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the other.

The dinner, which had initially been scheduled to take place in the newly renovated Rose Garden, was moved indoors to the State Dining Room due to rainy weather.

During the gathering, Trump invited executives to speak about their companies and share their investment commitments in the US. Zuckerberg said his company alone expected to spend around $600 billion through 2028.

Earlier in the day, Melania had led a meeting for the White House’s newly formed Artificial Intelligence Education Task Force, a group tasked with examining how emerging technologies can be integrated into schools and workforce training.