Live updates: Trump envoy and Putin meet; blue state Democrats weigh paths to new congressional maps
NBC1 day
Russia Confirms Trump-Putin Talks
Above: U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025 Image copyright: Bonnie Cash/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Russia narrative
With a meeting between Putin and Trump now confirmed, Russia's position will remain unchanged from what it has always been: for Russia's security, Ukraine must be a neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-weapon-free country and must not deploy foreign weapons on its territory. Ukraine also needs to guarantee the rights of Russian speakers in the country while accepting Russia's sovereignty of Crimea, Donbas and Novorossiya.
Pro-Trump narrative
The U.S. continues to call for an end to the war in Ukraine as it has done for months now. During Wednesday's meeting between Putin and Witkoff, great progress was made and it's hoped that further progress continues in the coming days.
Pro-establishment narrative
Trump, while waking up to the reality of Russian aggression in Ukraine, causing him to take a harsher tone with Putin in recent days, could actually be making progress in ending the war. However, while a meeting with Putin could be a diplomatic coup, it's not clear whether Trump's falling into a trap of Putin's creation. Russia could once again play nice and then pull the chair from under him.