Trump-Putin Summit Set for Budapest Amid Ukraine Arms Debate

President Trump has announced a second summit with Vladimir Putin will take place in Budapest. This comes just ahead of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's scheduled White House visit. During their recent phone call, Trump expressed concerns about depleting US Tomahawk missile stocks for Ukraine. The two leaders' top advisers will meet next week to prepare for the Budapest summit and discuss the ongoing Ukraine situation.

Key Points: Trump Announces Second Putin Summit in Budapest on Ukraine

  • Trump confirms second summit with Putin in Budapest following hour-long phone call
  • US President cites need to preserve Tomahawk missiles for American defense needs
  • Kremlin aide reveals Putin immediately supported Budapest meeting proposal
  • Top advisers from both nations to meet next week on Ukraine situation
3 min read

Ahead of Zelenskyy's White House visit, Trump says will hold second summit with Putin on Ukraine in Budapest

Trump confirms Budapest summit with Putin while discussing Tomahawk missile supplies to Ukraine ahead of Zelenskyy's White House visit.

"President Putin and I will...meet in an agreed-upon location, Budapest, Hungary - Donald Trump"

Washington, DC /Moscow, October 17

Ahead of his meeting on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House, US President Donald Trump said that his country cannot deplete its own stockpile of Tomahawk cruise missiles by supplying them to Ukraine.

Following an hour-long telephone call with Putin in which "great progress" was made, Trump said that the two leaders will meet in Hungary in the coming few weeks.

"President Putin and I will...meet in an agreed-upon location, Budapest, Hungary," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Trump and Putin had previously met in Alaska.

Kremlin aide said that Trump proposed a meeting in Budapest and Putin "immediately supported" the idea.

The US President noted that the issue of supplying US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine was discussed in the call. "We need Tomahawks for the US too. We have a lot of them, but we need them," he said as cited by a report in TASS.

"I mean, we can't deplete for our country. So, you know, they're very vital, they're very powerful, they're very accurate, they're very good, but we need them too, so I don't know what we can do about that," Trump was cited as saying by the Rusian state media.

Kremlin aide Ushakov told reporters that Putin had raised the issue of a possible supply of Tomahawks to Ukraine in his call with Trump on Thursday.

He stressed that Putin told Trump the Tomahawks would not change the situation on the battlefield, but would harm US-Russian relations and the chance to move forward in the peace process.

Zelensky has repeatedly asked the US to increase supplies of missiles for Patriot systems and to transfer Tomahawk missiles to Kiev. Last week, the US president has stated that before making a final decision on Tomahawk missiles, he should most likely discuss it with the Russian president. Tomahawk missiles have a range of up to 1,500 miles, putting even Moscow easily within Ukraine's reach.

TASS reported that the Trump-Putin call was the eighth between the two leaders since the beginning of this year.

According to Trump, top advisers of both the countries would meet next week to discuss the situation in Ukraine, with the US represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Kremlin aide Ushakov said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will speak to Rubio in the coming days to start working on the summit.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
Trump prioritizing US stockpiles makes sense from American perspective, but Ukraine needs support. Reminds me how India has to balance our own defense needs while maintaining global partnerships. Complex situation.
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Arjun K
Eighth call this year between Trump and Putin? That's more frequent than most allies talk! Shows how much this conflict is dominating global politics. Hope this leads to actual peace talks soon. 🙏
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Sarah B
While I understand the need for diplomacy, it's concerning that Trump seems to be coordinating arms decisions with Putin before his own meeting with Zelenskyy. The sequencing feels wrong from a strategic standpoint.
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Vikram M
Tomahawks with 1500 mile range would definitely change the game! But honestly, more weapons might just prolong the suffering. Diplomatic solution is what's needed. India's position of calling for dialogue and diplomacy makes the most sense.
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Michael C
The fact that Trump is openly discussing not supplying weapons because "we need them too" while planning another summit with Putin shows where priorities lie. Zelenskyy must be feeling quite isolated ahead of his White House visit.

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