BURSTRussian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that President Trump was making “energetic and sincere efforts” toward peace in Ukraine, according to a report.
A readout from the Kremlin, which NBC News obtained and translated, said Putin brought together advisers Thursday to discuss ceasefire negotiations ahead of his upcoming meeting with Trump in Alaska.
The Russian leader then said the Trump administration was making “quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict," NBC News reported.
Trump and Putin will meet at a U.S. military base outside of Anchorage, Alaska, Friday afternoon. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the duo will host a joint press conference after the meeting.
In recent days, the president has sought to temper expectations surrounding the meeting, framing it as a chance to possibly set up a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss ending the more than three year war.
Still, on Wednesday, Trump blasted news outlets for “unfair” coverage of his upcoming meeting with Putin, arguing that he anticipates criticism from the media no matter if a good deal comes out of the summit or not.
The president noted the networks promoting quotes from former officials-turned-critics, including former national security adviser John Bolton, who has called the summit between the American and Russian leaders in Alaska as “a great victory for Putin.”
“Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin. Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, ‘Putin has already won,'” the president said on his Truth Social website. “What’s that all about? We are winning on EVERYTHING.”