Split screen: The two-hour call took place a day before Trump will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.
Trump and Zelensky will discuss the possibility of Ukraine receiving Tomahawk long-range missiles.
Flashback: Trump and Putin made no tangible progress toward peace during a previous summit in Alaska in August.
While Trump tried to arrange a follow-up summit between Putin and Zelensky, Putin has declined to hold one.
“President Putin and I will then meet in an agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary,” he said.
After speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone Thursday, President Trump declared that he and the Russian leader had decided to meet in Hungary in the upcoming weeks to talk about ways to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine.
A day before Trump hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, the two-hour call took place. Zelensky and Trump will talk about whether Ukraine could get long-range Tomahawk missiles.
Flashback: During a previous summit in August in Alaska, Trump and Putin failed to make any real headway toward peace. Trump attempted to get Putin and Zelensky to meet again, but Putin has refused.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social that he thinks “great progress was made” during his call with Putin is what went viral.
According to him, their top advisors will meet with the U.S. next week to discuss the situation in Ukraine. A. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in attendance.
“President Putin and I will then meet in Budapest, Hungary, at a predetermined location,” he stated.
Additionally, Trump wrote that Putin congratulated him on the agreement to end the war in Gaza.
What to watch: According to Trump’s statement last week, he told Zelensky that he might issue a fresh challenge to Putin: either Russia engages in meaningful peace negotiations or Ukraine receives Tomahawks.
Zelensky has claimed that the missiles could force Putin to engage in negotiations because they could reach Moscow. The Tomahawks proposal caused “extreme concern” in the Kremlin.
Ukraine was still uncertain whether Trump would agree to supply Tomahawks, a Ukrainian official told Axios on Wednesday.
Ukraine also wants to expedite other U.S. deliveries. S. . manufactured weapons, especially Patriot missile defense systems.
With Trump’s announcement of an impending summit, this story has been updated.
