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donald trump agreed for a second ukraine war summit with Vladimir Putin Following a “productive” phone call between the pair on the eve of Volodymyr’s visit to the White House Zelensky,
No date has been set, but Mr Trump wrote on social media that the meeting would take place in Budapest.
After the conversation lasted more than two hours, the US President wrote, “I believe that today’s telephone conversation has achieved considerable progress.”
Their previous summit, in Alaska in August, ended without any significant diplomatic breakthroughs for Mr Trump. Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Russian president initiated the call, which he described as “very frank and convincing.”
It came as Mr Zelensky was approaching the White House for more military assistance, including long-range Tomahawks missile This would allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory.
Mr Zelensky has argued that such attacks would help force Mr Putin to take Mr Trump’s call for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the war more seriously.
Mr Trump told reporters traveling with him to Israel on Sunday that he planned to discuss Tomahawks with Mr Putin to pressure him to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Do they want to take Tomahawk in that direction? I don’t think so,” Mr Trump said on Sunday. “I think I can talk to Russia about this.”
The Tomahawks much desired by Mr. Zelensky have a range of about 1,600 km (995 miles), but experts have warned that it could take years for Ukraine to provide the equipment and training needed to use them effectively.
With the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage agreement fragile, Mr Trump has said he is now turning his attention to ending the war in Ukraine and is considering providing long-range weapons to Kiev as he tries to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza was central to Mr Trump’s 2024 re-election pitch, in which he has repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden’s handling of the conflicts.
Yet, like his predecessor, Mr Trump has also been stymied by Mr Putin as he has unsuccessfully pressured the Russian leader to hold direct talks with Mr Zelensky to end the war, which is nearing its fourth year.
But after the Gaza ceasefire, Mr Trump is showing new confidence that he can finally move towards ending the Russian offensive.
He is also signaling that he is prepared to increase pressure on Mr Putin if he does not come to the negotiating table soon.
Mr Putin has made it clear that providing Tomahawks to Ukraine would cross a red line and further damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
But Mr Trump has been undaunted. “He would like to have the Tomahawks,” he said of Mr. Zelensky earlier this week. “We have a lot of Tomahawks.”
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters Thursday night that there would be a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the coming days before the Budapest meeting.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report