‘Great news for peace-loving people’: Orbán says Hungary ready to host Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine.
The Kremlin confirmed plans for the meeting, though neither side provided a date for when it would occur. U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday (16 October) to another summit on the war in Ukraine.
Trump and Putin may meet within the next two weeks in Budapest, the U.S. president said, after a more than two-hour phone conversation he called productive. The Kremlin confirmed plans for the meeting, though neither side provided a date for when it would occur.
“My whole life, I’ve made deals,” Trump told reporters later at the White House. “I think we’re going to have this one done, hopefully soon.”
The development came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was headed to the White House on Friday to push for more military support, including U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk missiles. The White House had seemed in recent days to be leaning toward granting Zelenskyy fresh support and increasingly frustrated with Putin.
Yet Trump’s conciliatory tone following the Russia call left in question the near-term likelihood of assistance and reignited European fears of U.S. capitulation to Moscow.
Since taking office in January, Trump has regularly threatened action against Russia, only to delay those steps after talks with Putin.
Trump sought a ceasefire ahead of an Alaska summit with Putin in August that produced none. At the time, some analysts said Putin pocketed U.S. concessions with no intent to halt fighting.
Three-way talks between Putin, Zelenskyy, and Trump, another goal sought by Washington at the time, never materialized, and there is no immediate plan for such a meeting now.
The Republican president has positioned himself as a peacemaker, brandishing diplomatic achievements including the recent Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal. He has said he thought the war in Ukraine, which began with Russia’s 2022 invasion, would have been easier to end.