Friday meeting with Putin a ‘listening exercise’ for Trump, Leavitt says

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday that the president’s expectations for his Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin aren’t perhaps as high as they were earlier this year.

Leavitt was asked at a press briefing Tuesday whether President Donald Trump anticipated making a peace deal on the Russia-Ukraine war or was “simply going to listen.”

“This is a listening exercise for the president,” Leavitt replied, emphasizing that it would be difficult for Trump to negotiate a deal without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy there, as well. 

“Look, only one party that’s involved in this war is going to be present, and so this is for the president to go and to get, again, a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end,” she said.

Trump also fielded questions about his expectations for the meeting at a press conference he held on Monday about the federal crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital. He appeared to be optimistic about the sit-down but refrained from making predictions about what would come from it.

“So this is really a feel-out meeting a little bit, and President Putin invited me to get involved. He wants to get involved. I think, I believe, he wants to get it over with,” Trump said.

Trump’s meetings with Putin during his first term took place in various locations overseas. Trump seemed to consider Putin’s willingness to come to the U.S. as a good sign.

“I thought it was very respectful that the president of Russia is coming to our country, as opposed to us going to his country,” Trump said.

There is no public record of any conversation between former President Joe Biden and Putin since December 2021, two months before Russia invaded Ukraine, according to PBS, as Biden said he would only speak with the Russian president if he showed a clear interest in ending the war. 

Friday is also the day Trump had designated as a deadline for Russia to make concessions or face new economic sanctions.

Trump has repeatedly threatened economic penalties for Russia in 2025, only to relent when the deadline arrives. He did recently impose higher tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. The American president entered office speaking confidently about brokering a ceasefire between the two warring countries, always repeating the refrain that the war never would have happened under his leadership. But over time, his rhetoric has shifted.

On Monday, he expressed how much he would like to see a deal be made while also noting that it wasn’t his responsibility to get Ukraine and Russia to agree to one.

“[I’ll] go into that thing fully loaded right up there, and we’re going to see what happens,” Trump said. “I’d like to see a ceasefire very, very quickly, very quick. I’d like to see it immediately.”

Trump said he would tell European leaders and Zelenskyy “what kind of a deal” should be made or what he thinks Putin will be open to after meeting with him but indicated that he doesn’t see himself as the sole negotiator for peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“I’m going to tell them what kind of a deal. I’m not going to make a deal; it’s not up to me to make a deal. I think a deal should be made for both,” he said.

One thing the president did seem sure of is that both sides would eventually need to make land concessions that would involve “good and bad” for both parties if a peace agreement is to be reached

“There’ll be some swapping, some changes in land,” Trump said. “Russia has occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They’ve occupied some very prime territory.  We’re going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine.”

“There’s good, and there’s bad, but it’s very complex, because you have lines that are very uneven, and there’ll be some swapping, there’ll be some changes in land.”