Trump plans to meet with Putin to talk about a ceasefire in Ukraine

After speaking for more than two hours on Thursday with President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said he planned to meet with the Russian leader in Hungary in “two weeks or so” to discuss ways to bring an end to Moscow’s three-year invasion of Ukraine.

- By ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS

Trump held what he termed a “productive” call with his Russian counterpart a day before he was set to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who is expected to make the case that the United States should give Kyiv weapons capable of striking deep inside Russia.

But after days of suggesting he would allow the sale of Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv, Trump abruptly expressed trepidation over further arming Ukraine, signaling that he might back off if Putin proves willing to negotiate a diplomatic end to the conflict.