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Vladimir Putin has announced he'll meet with Donald Trump, after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky alleged the U.S. president has been duped by Russian misinformation, Knewz.com can reveal.
Putin called the meeting with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia a "first step" to restoring diplomatic relations with the country.
While speaking at a drone factory in Saint Petersburg, Putin said: "I was briefed (on the talks). I rate them highly, there is a result.
"In my opinion, we made the first step to restore work in various areas of mutual interests."
The despot added: "It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States."
Putin's comments followed Zelensky criticizing the Trump administration taking a friendly stance with Russia while he pushed back on several claims the U.S. president made during a press conference earlier this week.
Zelensky expressed he "would like Trump's team to be more truthful" when addressing Russia and the ongoing war in Ukraine, including Trump baselessly claiming Ukraine was to blame for the war breaking out in 2022.
He further pushed back on Trump claiming the U.S. has given Ukraine $500 billion – and shot down the president suggesting his country could pay back the aid with a minerals exploration deal, which Zelensky said was "not a serious conversation."
Zelensky added: "Look, we all want a victory, and we want Trump to win, and we want Ukraine to win, all of us to succeed.
"But there is nothing clear here... I am protecting Ukraine. I can't sell it away. I can't sell our state."
In regard to U.S. talks with Russia, he said: "I believe that the United States helped Putin to break out of years of isolation... All of this has no positive impact on Ukraine."
He additionally said the talks came as a "surprise" to Ukrainian officials and sparked fears across his country, as well as Europe, that Ukraine will be left out of negotiations.
Meanwhile, Putin claimed Russia was "not imposing anything on anyone."
He added: "We are ready, I have already said this a hundred times – if they want, please, let these negotiations take place. And we will be ready to return to the table for negotiations. No one is excluding Ukraine."
Still, critics and political pundits have raised concerns over Trump's increasingly cozy relationship with Putin, especially given his past praise of the dictator.
During a 2022 appearance on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, Trump called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "genius."
He said: "I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius.' Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine – of Ukraine – Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful.
"He used the word 'independent' and 'we're gonna go out and we're gonna go in and we're gonna help keep peace.' You gotta say that's pretty savvy."