After almost losing Trump, Putin secures his ideal summit

He gets to make his case on Aug 15 and cut deal, without Zelensky present

- Paul Sonne

BERLIN – In late July 2025, President Vladimir Putin of Russia was facing a stark reality: He was on the verge of losing President Donald Trump, the one Western leader possibly willing to help him get his way in Ukraine and achieve his long-held goal of rupturing the European security order.

After months of trying to get Mr. Putin to end the war, Mr. Trump had grown tired of ineffectual phone calls and talks and had begun issuing ultimatums. Even worse for Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump appeared to have patched up his relationship with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine despite an Oval Office blow-up earlier in 2025 that delighted Moscow.

It was not clear that Mr. Trump would be able or willing to follow through on the threats he had made to put punishing tariffs on nations buying Russian oil, or what real impact such moves would have on Moscow. But Mr. Trump's deadline for Mr. Putin to end the war was swiftly approaching, presaging some sort of further rift between the White House and the Kremlin.

So Mr. Putin shifted tack ever so slightly.

Despite previous refusals by Russian officials to negotiate over territory in the Russia-Ukraine war, the Russian leader, during a meeting at the Kremlin last week, left Mr. Trump's special envoy, Mr. Steve Witkoff, with the impression that Russia was now willing to engage in some deal-making on the question of land.