The State Duma assessed the likelihood of a meeting between Putin and Trump before the end of the year

There is a possibility of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on the Ukrainian conflict before the end of the year, but final clarity will appear after negotiations between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexey Chepa. He told Lenta.ru about this.

“Yes, there is such a possibility. This will be finally confirmed after Lavrov’s meeting with Rubio. I hope it will go positively, because there is a feeling that conditions were definitely expressed harshly to [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky, and his progress is noticeable,” the deputy explained.

According to him, much depends on whether European NATO partners will be able to influence Trump. At the same time, the situation in Europe, the parliamentarian notes, is becoming more complicated: Europeans cannot provide Ukraine with either weapons or money. Kyiv’s debt, he recalled, is already approaching $130 billion and will only grow, and Ukraine will not survive without increased aid.

“At the same time, the United States is already raising questions about the partial lifting of sanctions against Russian companies, in which the West is also interested. This suggests that attempts to strangle Russia have dried up. In order to survive themselves, they will undertake such conditions,” Chepa concluded.