US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have agreed to meet in Budapest following a phone call held a day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to visit Washington.
"We agreed that there will be a meeting of our High Level Advisors, next week... President Putin and I will then meet in an agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary," Trump wrote on his Truth Social page on October 16.
Trump added that the meeting in Budapest is "to see if we can bring this 'inglorious' War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end."
He also said that the US delegation, which will negotiate with the Russian side ahead of his talks with Putin, will be led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, adding that the location for these initial talks has yet to be determined.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he expects his meeting with Putin will take place "within two weeks" and will be hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Both the Kremlin and the White House praised the phone call between Trump and Putin, calling it "good" and "productive."
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said the conversation was "extremely frank and trustful," adding that the time and place for any meeting would be discussed during a phone call between Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the coming days.
The phone call between the two leaders came a day ahead of Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy, who said he hopes the momentum in the Middle East peace process will help end the war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy posted on Telegram after arriving in Washington on October 16, saying it appeared that Russia was keen to resume dialogue "upon hearing of Tomahawks," referring to Trump's suggestion that he might provide Kyiv with those missiles.
In his comments to reporters at the White House, Trump said he mentioned Tomahawks to Putin during their call.
"I did actually say, would you mind if I gave a couple of thousands of Tomahawks to your opposition?" Trump said, adding that Putin "didn’t like the idea."
Trump said earlier that he and Zelenskyy would meet in the Oval Office on October 17 to discuss his conversation with Putin and other topics. The talks are expected to include discussions on Ukraine's air defenses and long-range strike capabilities.
Trump has recently expressed his frustration with Putin and Moscow's war in Ukraine, saying on October 15 that the Russian president does not appear to want to end the conflict, which makes him look "very bad."
Here Is What Tomahawk Missiles Could Do For Ukraine
Trump and Zelenskyy spoke twice over the weekend amid intensifying discussions about a potential US decision to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. The Kremlin has warned against supplying Kyiv with the weapon.
Trump has not ruled out doing so, but on October 16 said the United States can't "deplete" its own Tomahawk stocks.
The weapons have a range of up to 2,500 kilometers and can be equipped with nuclear warheads. Trump described them as a "vicious, offensive, and incredibly destructive weapon," adding, "Nobody wants Tomahawks shot at them."
In his comments following the call between Trump and Putin, Ushakov said Putin told Trump that supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine would not change the situation on the battlefield but would harm peace efforts and damage ties between Russia and the United States.
