MOSCOW/KYIV - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with local media on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump "agreed quite quickly to coordinate and hold a working meeting somewhere in a third country".
However, the final place of the working meeting has not been decided, he said, stressing that the meeting will happen prior to the exchange of visits of the two heads of state.
Working team communication between Russia and the United States is expected to be established in the coming days to prepare for the summit meeting, Peskov added.
READ MORE: Europe demands role in Ukraine peace talk after Trump-Putin call
For the potential peace talks, the Kremlin spokesman noted that Ukraine will participate in a certain way.
"One way or another, of course, Ukraine will participate in the talks. Of course, there will be both a bilateral Russian-American dialogue and a talk Ukraine will get involved in," he said.
Peskov underlined that the two presidents had confirmed their intention to settle the Ukraine conflict through negotiations "even facing most complicated problems".
He said Russia has begun preparing a negotiating team for the upcoming talks, and the Kremlin considers it necessary to promptly organize the meeting.
"There is a need for such a meeting to take place fairly soon. The heads of state have a lot to talk about. There are many topics on the agenda, which were briefly covered yesterday during the telephone conversation," Peskov added.
He said, however, that it was still too early to set any date, because preparations to organize such a meeting would only begin in the coming days.
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At the same time, he clarified that no substantive talks on Ukraine have taken place so far.
"There have been no substantive contacts at the working level yet. The political will of the heads of state was expressed, and instructions were given, but this happened yesterday evening in Moscow ... therefore, we need to be a little patient," Peskov said.
Ukraine 'would be involved'
Trump said Thursday that Ukraine would participate in peace negotiations with Russia.
"They're part of it. We would have Ukraine, and we have Russia, and we'll have other people involved, a lot of people," Trump told a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.
Trump attributes the origins of the Ukraine conflict partly to Ukraine's potential NATO membership, which Russia had long opposed.
"From day one ... they've said they cannot have Ukraine be in NATO. They said that very strongly," Trump said, adding that he believed talks of Ukraine's accession to the bloc sparked the conflict.
Trump said US and Russian officials would meet in Munich, Germany, on Friday and that Ukraine was also invited.
Trump also mentioned to reporters that high-ranking officials, though not the leaders, from all three countries would meet in Saudi Arabia next week to work toward ending the conflict.
"We're working with (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelensky and with (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin, and my impression is that ... I know that President Zelensky wants to make a deal, and I also feel that I know that President Putin wants to make a deal," Trump said.
Following Thursday's meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated that although Ukraine's membership in the alliance could be part of any peace agreement with Russia, it has not been formally agreed upon.
"What I consistently have said is we have to make sure that whatever the outcome is, we have to make sure that Vladimir Putin will never, ever try again to attack Ukraine," said Rutte.
"But it has never been a promise to Ukraine that as part of a peace deal, they would be in NATO," he added.
On the same occasion, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that NATO's European partners should assume primary responsibility for defending the continent.
"Our expectation of our friends -- and we say this in solidarity -- is you have to spend more on your defense, for your country, on that continent, understanding that the American military and the American people stand beside you, as we have in NATO," he said.
Trump said on Monday that the United States could conclude a rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine worth $500 billion to secure Washington's financial and military aid to Kyiv.
He sent US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday to present Zelensky with a draft partnership agreement between the two countries to get written assurances that the United States would get access to its rare earth elements and oil and gas, the Associated Press reported.
READ MORE: US defense chief rules out NATO membership for Ukraine
"I told them that I want the equivalent of like 500 billion US dollars worth of rare earth (minerals), and they've essentially agreed to do that," Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
Zelensky told reporters that Kyiv would now review the preliminary draft agreement and expressed hope that a deal could be finalized at the Munich Security Conference from Feb 14-16.
"We had a productive, constructive conversation. For me, the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine is very important, and we talked about minerals in general," said Zelensky.
Zelensky also said Kyiv would not accept any bilateral peace talks without Ukraine's participation, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported.
"We will not accept any bilateral talks about Ukraine without us," Zelensky told reporters.
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He said a meeting in the Ukraine-US format should serve as a starting point for the peace process to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed by negotiations with Russia.
Zelensky also underscored the importance of having European partners at the negotiating table.
On Wednesday, Zelensky discussed ways to bring peace to Ukraine in a phone conversation with Trump. The talks followed Trump's earlier phone call with Putin.
