Translated with AI
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first telephone conversation since the Alaska summit and agreed to hold a new in-person meeting, expected to take place in Budapest, Hungary.
The conversation took place on October 15 at the initiative of the Russian side and lasted over two hours. According to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the leaders discussed the possibility of organizing another summit and instructed representatives of the two countries to immediately begin preparations for the meeting on EU soil.
The phone call took place the day before US President Donald Trump's visit to Washington, where he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The meeting is scheduled to discuss the supply of American long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv.
Ushakov noted that Vladimir Putin warned Trump that supplying Tomahawks to Kyiv could significantly harm relations between Russia and the United States and complicate the prospects for resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, upon learning of the plans to hold the meeting in his country, also discussed the matter over the phone with the US President, stating that preparations for the US-Russia summit were "well underway" and calling Hungary an "island of peace." Orbán emphasized that the meeting between the presidents was good news for all who strive for peace.
According to White House press secretary Caroline Levitt, Trump and Putin also discussed US achievements in resolving the conflict between Israel and Gaza, and Putin thanked US First Lady Melania Trump for her care for Ukrainian children affected by the conflict.
The US President called the phone call "very productive" and emphasized that significant progress had been made. On the social media platform TruthSocial, Trump wrote that the talks allowed him to discuss a possible end to the war in Ukraine and prospects for trade between the US and Russia after the conflict is resolved.
A face-to-face meeting between the presidents is expected to take place within the next two weeks. Prior to that, high-level delegation meetings are planned: the US side will be represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while the composition of the Russian delegation and the exact location of the meeting are still being determined.
The phone call between Trump and Putin marked the seventh time the two leaders had met since the start of Trump's new presidential term. The previous six calls, as well as the three-hour summit in Alaska on August 15, had produced no significant results. During the Alaskan conversation, Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing war in Ukraine and emphasized the need for a ceasefire.
Trump previously announced the possible transfer of Tomahawk cruise missiles, capable of striking targets more than 1,500 kilometers away, to Kyiv if Russia does not cease military action.
Trump said the phone call with Putin provided an opportunity to prepare for a personal meeting to discuss the possibility of ending the "inglorious" war between Ukraine and Russia.
