Washington, 17 October (H.S.): U.S. President Donald Trump announced he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, within the next two weeks to discuss a potential end to the war in Ukraine. The decision came after a very productive phone call between the two leaders on Thursday, their first direct communication since mid-August.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that high-level delegations from both countries will meet next week to lay the groundwork for the summit, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the American team. Trump said he believes great progress was made during his call with Putin and described the conversation as extremely frank and trustful.

The Kremlin confirmed the call took place at Russia’s request and that Putin immediately supported the summit proposal.The announcement comes one day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to visit the White House.

Trump said he will brief Zelenskyy on the details of his call with Putin. The meeting in Budapest, to be hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is seen as a renewed effort to broker a peace deal after a summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska in August failed to produce a significant breakthrough.A key topic of discussion is Ukraine’s request for Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have a range capable of striking deep into Russian territory.

Trump acknowledged that Putin didn’t like the idea when he raised it during their call but also expressed concern about depleting U.S. stockpiles. Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Olga Stefanishyna, stated that Russia’s overnight missile strikes on Ukraine, just hours before the leaders’ call, expose Moscow’s true intentions and that the only effective response is increased pressure through sanctions and military aid.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar