US President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in what he described as a “very productive” call. Trump revealed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet Russian advisers next week and announced plans for an in-person meeting with Putin in Budapest.
US President Donald Trump held a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, just a day before his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.ย After the call, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to describe his discussion with Putin as “very productive” and indicated that the two leaders had exchanged views on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet with “high-level advisers” from Russia next week to further discussions on resolving the war. He also disclosed that he plans to meet Putin in person soon in Hungary’s capital Budapest. The US President said the purpose of the meeting would be “to see if we can bring this inglorious war between Russia and Ukraine to an end.” However, he did not reveal the exact date for the proposed meeting.
Trump to meet Zelenskyy at the White House
The phone conversation with Putin comes ahead of Trump’s scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. The discussions are expected to focus on US support for Ukraine and possible pathways to peace.ย Earlier this week, the Ukrainian President said he also would meet with defence and energy companies and members of Congress. โThe main topics will be air defence and our long-range capabilities, to maintain pressure on Russia,โ Zelenskyy said, as per The Associated Press. Meanwhile, Russia has expressed “extreme concern” over the US potentially providing Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Russian President Putin himself has previously suggested that the US supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine would seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington.