Donald Trump says he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for face-to-face talks in Hungary after the pair made “great progress” during a “very productive” phone call on Thursday.
Mr Trump did not confirm a date for the proposed meeting, but the Kremlin said work would begin “immediately” after the “extremely frank and trustful” call, which it said took place at Moscow’s request.
It would be the second face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since Mr Trump returned to the White House in January, having met in August for a summit in Alaska.
Mr Trump and Mr Putin also agreed that “high level advisors” from Washington and Moscow will meet next week, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the US delegation.
Mr Rubio and vice president JD Vance were also present on the call with Mr Putin, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
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Writing on his Truth Social platform after the call, Mr Trump said he “spent a great deal of time” talking to the Russian leader about potential trade between their countries when the war in Ukraine is over.
The call came a day before Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House. Ukraine’s president is hoping to secure Mr Trump’s support to use US Tomahawk missiles, capable of striking deep into Russia.
Mr Putin warned Mr Trump during their call that handing Ukraine the missiles it wanted would harm US-Russia ties and the peace process, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
The Russian also congratulated Mr Trump for brokering the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza earlier this week and praised his wife, Melania Trump, for her efforts to reunite displaced Ukrainian children with their families.
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Why are Trump and Putin meeting in Budapest?
According to the Kremlin, Mr Trump suggested Budapest as the location for face-to-face talks with Mr Putin, who immediately agreed to the plan.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a vocal advocate for dialogue with Russia and critic of EU sanctions on Moscow, welcomed the news enthusiastically, calling Hungary an “island of peace” and confirming preparations after speaking with Mr Trump.
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Budapest was among the shortlisted sites for the last summit between Mr Trump and Mr Putin in Alaska.
It also holds historical significance. In 1994, Ukraine surrendered the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees through the Budapest Memorandum.
Signed by Russia, the US, and the UK, the agreement promised to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty. It was ultimately broken when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
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What happened in Alaska?
Mr Trump met Mr Putin on US soil on 15 August for a summit which the US leader hoped would help convince the Russian president to enter peace talks to end the Ukraine war.
There were hopes after the call that a trilateral summit could be scheduled that would include Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but no meeting was arranged.
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Mr Putin spoke to Mr Trump again days after the summit when European leaders, including Mr Zelenskyy, were at the White House.
There’s been no public confirmation from the White House or the Kremlin that any communication has taken place between the two since then, in which time Mr Trump has taken a tougher line towards Moscow.
In September, Mr Trump signalled a major shift in his stance on the war, saying he believed Kyiv could “win all of Ukraine back in its original form”, having previously suggested the country might need to cede territory occupied by Russia.
