Ukraine war latest: Trump announces new Putin meeting before hosting Zelensky in US

Amid concerns over Russian infiltration, the EU has unveiled a strategy to strengthen its security, to be fully operational by the end of the decade.

Across Europe, a key component of the “European Drone Defense Initiative” is to detect, track and neutralize rogue drones following violations of airspace near some Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian borders.

Implementing this, “Eastern Flank Watch” is a plan to strengthen its eastern border against land, Baltic and Black Sea, air and hybrid attacks.

Initial operations for both will take place in December next year, with the drone system fully functional by the end of 2027 and Eastern Flank Watch in full swing by the end of 2028.

Separate air and space shields are also envisioned.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Budapest, according to the Kremlin, a location reportedly suggested by Trump and immediately agreed to by Putin.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed the news enthusiastically. He called Hungary an “island of peace” and confirmed that preparations for a summit were underway after speaking directly to Trump.

Budapest is no stranger to hosting high-level US-Russia talks. It was one of the locations chosen for the previous Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, and it holds significant historical significance in the context of Ukraine.

In 1994, Ukraine handed over the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal under the Budapest Memorandum, in return receiving security guarantees from Russia, the US and the UK.

Those guarantees were intended to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty – promises that were broken first with Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and later with a full-scale invasion in 2022.

The US president has shown he prefers to support a conqueror – especially one that uses US weapons – which means Zelensky will have to convince him he is the man to support Tomahawk missiles, writes Sam Kiely in Dnipro:

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has expressed strong support for the planned summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

“The planned meeting between the US and Russian presidents is great news for the peace-loving people of the world. We are ready!” He said.

The Hungarian leader said he had spoken to Trump by phone and that preparations for a US-Russia summit were already underway.

Earlier, Trump had announced that he would take part in a new meeting with Putin in Hungary, the timing of which has not yet been agreed upon.

He will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington DC later today.

A crowd of youth gathered in Kazanskaya Square to sing anti-war songs, including those banned Song ,Swan Lake Collective” by Russian rapper Noize MC, in footage that has now gone viral on social media.

The song, banned from distribution by the Primorsky District Court in May, contains anti-Putin lyrics, including “The old man is still clinging to his throne, afraid to let go” and “When the Tsar dies, we’ll dance again – ‘Swan Lake’ on every screen.”

The crowd can be heard chanting in chorus: “I want to see balletLet the swans dance. Let the old man tremble in fear of his lake.”

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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest phone call with Donald Trump has slowed the US’s growing pace of toughening its stance on Moscow, according to a former US State Department official.

“Putin is trying to derail the momentum for more pressure on Russia,” said Dan Fried, a former U.S. State Department official and veteran diplomat who oversaw sanctions policy under several administrations.

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow [on Friday, with Zelensky due to meet Trump] “But the chances of moving toward a ceasefire by motivating Russia to get serious are diminished.”

The Kremlin described Thursday’s meeting between Trump and Putin as “extremely frank and credible.”

Earlier, Trump appeared to be hardening his position, expressing disappointment over Russia’s continued attacks and hinting at a possible decision to provide Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Explosions were reported overnight in both occupied Donetsk and the Russian resort city of Sochi, as suspected Ukrainian drone strikes targeted sites inside the Russian-occupied zone.

“An air defense system is activated in Sochi. Attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being repelled,” Sochi Mayor Andrei Proshunin said.

In Donetsk, local channels reported that a Russian ammunition depot was attacked, causing a series of explosions and large fires to be seen in the captured city.

Videos circulated on social media showed the night sky lit up by multiple explosions. Kyiv independent Informed.

Ukrainian authorities have not commented on either incident.

Donald Trump appeared uncertain on Wednesday about supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, saying the US should also have enough missiles to defend itself – hours before his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington.

“We need Tomahawks for the United States of America, too. We have a lot of them, but we need them. I mean, we can’t run out of them for our country,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“I don’t know what we can do about it,” he said.

Zelensky, who arrived in Washington earlier in the day, is expected to put a renewed emphasis on long-range missiles, which can strike targets up to 2,500 kilometers away.

Earlier, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Moscow had warned Trump against arming Kiev with missiles.

“Vladimir Putin reiterated that the Tomahawks will not change the situation on the battlefield, but will cause significant damage to relations between our countries, not to mention the prospects for a peaceful resolution,” Ushakov said. Kyiv independent,

Russia on Thursday launched one of its largest airstrikes in months, damaging Ukraine’s energy networks, just as President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted Donald Trump for firing long-range Tomahawk missiles in Washington.

More than 300 drones and 37 missiles rained down across Ukraine overnight, causing blackouts in eight regions and fires at major gas facilities.

“This autumn, the Russians use every day to attack our energy infrastructure,” Zelensky said on X.

One of the main targets was the Shebelinka gas processing plant in the Kharkiv region, where drones and missiles struck at around 5.30 am.

Huge plumes of black smoke were billowing from the site as crews battled multiple fires.