Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are set to meet face-to-face in Hungary soon. The two leaders agreed to hold the meeting during a phone conversation on Thursday, according to a report by the BBC.
Trump described his call with Putin as “very productive,” adding that U.S. and Russian officials will meet next week. Although the exact date of the Budapest summit has not yet been confirmed, the Kremlin said preparations for the high-level talks would begin “immediately” following what it called a “clear and constructive” conversation.
The phone call came a day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington, as Trump considers whether to supply Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep inside Russia.
After arriving in the U.S., Zelensky remarked that Moscow appeared “eager to resume dialogue” as soon as it learned about the potential Tomahawk missile supply.
Following the call, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he and Putin “spent considerable time discussing U.S.-Russia trade relations after the end of the war in Ukraine.”
He also said that senior advisers from both sides would meet at an undisclosed location next week, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the American delegation.
When asked about the possibility of supplying missiles to Ukraine after his call with Putin, Trump responded, “We can’t deplete our stock of Tomahawks. We need them ourselves… so I’m not sure what we can do about that.”
Previously, Trump and Putin held an in-person meeting in Alaska in August, which failed to produce any breakthrough on a peace agreement. Since then, Trump has reportedly taken a tougher stance toward Putin over the Ukraine conflict.