Trump says to meet Putin in Budapest after 'great' call

WASHINGTON:

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

Trump did not give a date for the meeting in Budapest, which would be his second with 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 start "immediately" preparing the summit following the "extremely frank and trustful" call. But Ukraine's envoy to Washington said Russia was already rejecting Trump's peace efforts through "terror" strikes.

The planned summit represents yet another wild swing in Trump's relations with Putin, which warmed up earlier this year, 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," 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, Trump added.

"President Putin and I 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.

'Peace-loving people'

Budapest had been discussed as a possible venue for the previous Trump-Putin meeting before they settled on Alaska.

"The planned meeting between the American and Russian presidents is great news for the peace-loving people of the world. We are ready!" Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has maintained friendly relations with both, said on X.