US President Donald Trump predicted he would probably meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin, suggesting that he saw a potential face-to-face encounter as the only way to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.
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“I think we’ll make a deal. We have to get together and I think we’ll probably schedule it because I’m tired of having other people go and meet and everything else,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Friday evening.
The interview was recorded while Trump was in the Middle East and broadcast as he was returning to Washington from a tour that took him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Earlier in the day, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he “may” call Putin to get peace talks on track “as soon as we can set it up”.
Ukraine and Russia on Friday held their first direct talks in more than three years, mediated by Turkey.
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