Trump says to 'probably' meet Putin this month

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will "probably" meet Russian President Vladimir Putin this month.

Dismissing Ukraine's concern about being left out of US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump noted during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that Ukraine could have made a deal with Russia three years ago.

"Today I heard, 'oh, we weren't invited.' Well you've been there for three years, you should have ended it ... you should have never started it. You could have made a deal," said Trump.

Trump also said he would not oppose the stationing of European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine.

"Having troops over there would be fine, I wouldn't object to it at all," he said. However, he indicated that the United States would not participate, "because we're very far away."

Earlier Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States and Russia reached an agreement on four principles after extensive talks in Saudi Arabia, including the establishment of a high-level team to help "negotiate and work through the end of the conflict in Ukraine in a way that's enduring and acceptable to all the parties engaged."

This meeting in Saudi Arabia is the latest indication of a thaw in the previously frosty relations between Washington and Moscow since Trump took office in January.