Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that he hopes to meet Vladimir Putin “very soon.” He also said he believed his Russian counterpart was genuinely interested in ending the fighting in Ukraine.

Trump told reporters that “no time has been set, but there could be very shortly,” after Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, tried to downplay expectations about upcoming high-level discussions in Riyadh regarding ending the war.

As the Ukraine conflict approaches its third anniversary, Rubio is set to lead an American delegation of high-level officials at discussions with Russian officials.

Trump told reporters, after an Air Force One flight, that his team had been talking “long and hard”, including with his Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff, whom he said recently met with Putin for three hours.

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Trump said about Putin, “I think that he would like to stop fighting.”

When asked if he believed Putin wanted to seize all of Ukraine, Trump replied: “That was the question I asked him.”

“If he continues… That would have been a problem for me,” Trump said.

“I think that he and the others want it to be over quickly. He said that “both of them” wanted to end the war, and added: “Zelenskyy also wants to do so.”

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he believed Russia was preparing to wage war against a NATO weakened by Trump’s decision to reduce US support for the Alliance.

Trump seemed to dismiss Zelenskyy’s remarks by telling reporters that he wasn’t “even a little bit concerned” about the Ukrainian leader’s message.

Rubio said it would be “not easy” to end such a bloody, long-running conflict.

In an interview conducted by CBS at the Munich Security Conference, the top American diplomat stated that “a process towards peace” is not just a single meeting.

Nothing finalized

Rubio will lead a U.S. high-level team to Riyadh. However, it is unclear if any Ukrainians will join. Rubio claimed he didn’t know who Moscow would send.

He said that nothing had been finalized, but added that the goal was to find an opening for a larger conversation “that would include Ukraine and the end of war.”

Both Witkoff, and U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, are expected to attend.

Trump and Putin had a long phone conversation on Wednesday, during which they agreed that ceasefire talks should begin immediately.

Zelenskyy’s call was a surprise to both NATO allies and Kyiv. He insisted that “no decision about Ukraine should be taken without Ukraine.”

Rubio said that there was no process in place right now, after speaking by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday. One phone call is not enough to bring peace.

Zelenskyy said in an interview broadcast by NBC on Sunday that Putin is a serial liar who cannot be trusted to negotiate with.

Rubio: “I do not think that anyone in geopolitics should be trusted.”

The next few days and weeks will show whether or not (Putin is) serious.