Trump to meet Putin in Budapest after call to discuss Ukraine

US President Donald Trump said he planned to meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Hungary after making “great progress” in a call on Oct 16, just a day before Ukraine’s leader is due at the White House to push for Tomahawk missiles.

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Mr Trump did not give a date for the meeting in Budapest, which would be his second with Mr Putin since returning to office. The pair met in Alaska in August without a breakthrough on ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin said it would “immediately” start preparing for the summit following the “extremely frank and trustful” call.

But Ukraine’s envoy to Washington said Russia was already rejecting Mr Trump’s peace efforts through “terror” strikes.

The planned summit represents yet another wild swing in Mr Trump’s relations with Mr Putin, which warmed up earlier in 2025, before the US President became increasingly frustrated with the Russian President’s refusal to end the war.

“I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social network.

Senior US and Russian officials, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would hold “initial meetings” next week in an as-yet-to-be-decided location, Mr Trump added.

“President Putin and | will then meet in an agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ war, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end,” he said.