Trump open to Moscow visit
US President Donald Trump has expressed openness to visiting Russia, contingent on progress in peace negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict. Trump made the statement during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington on Monday.
When asked by a reporter about his plans to visit Moscow, Trump responded: “If all this gets settled down, which I think it will, sure, I would go there, and he’d come here too,” seemingly referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin potentially visiting the US.
Responding to another question about attending Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, Trump noted that the date was “pretty soon,” but that a visit would occur “at the appropriate time.” The US President added that he expects the Ukraine conflict to end “within weeks.”
The suggestion that Trump might come to Russia in May first appeared in French conservative news magazine Le Point. “The scenario of Trump’s presence in Moscow alongside Putin on May 9 is being seriously considered in Europe,” the publication claimed on Friday. Both Moscow and Washington have since denied having such plans.
Victory Day is marked by a large military parade on Moscow’s Red Square, symbolizing national pride and military strength. Attendance by foreign leaders is seen as a gesture of diplomatic goodwill.
In an effort to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, Trump held a 90-minute phone conversation with Putin on February 12. Both leaders agreed to start negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.
The following week, high-level discussions between US and Russian officials took place in Saudi Arabia, focusing on establishing a framework for a potential peace deal and improving bilateral relations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the talks as “very useful” and stated that for the first time the US delegation listened to Moscow’s concerns.
During Trump’s first term in office between 2017 and 2021 neither he nor Putin visited the other’s country. Their interactions were limited to meetings at international summits in other nations.
