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On Truth Social, Trump revealed plans following an extensive call with Putin, describing it as “highly productive.”
He stated, “President Putin and I have agreed to meet in Budapest, Hungary, to explore possibilities for ending the ‘inglorious’ conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Tomorrow, I will meet with President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office to discuss my talks with President Putin and other matters. I am optimistic about the progress made during today’s conversation.”
Trump also mentioned that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will head a team of senior advisors to engage with Russian officials next week, with the meeting site yet to be decided.
“At the end of the call, we agreed on a meeting of our High-Level Advisors next week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with other appointed individuals, will lead the U.S. delegation. The meeting venue is still to be determined,” the president noted.
This development follows over two months since Trump’s previous face-to-face summit with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska.
Budapest was a finalist for to host that meeting before officials ultimately landed on Alaska, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has maintained a close relationship with Putin and Trump.
Pressed for more information after the conclusion of the call, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the administration would provide “more details as soon as we can.”
“This call literally just happened, so we will provide you with more details as soon as we can,” she told reporters.
Leavitt added that the call between the two leaders lasted “more than two hours.”
“I was just talking with the president and the secretary of state and the vice president, and it was a very good and productive call. It lasted more than two hours,” she told reporters.
The president has recently floated the possibility of giving Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles unless Russia dramatically changes its negotiating posture. The topic of Tomahawks was not included in the president’s readout of his phone call with Russia’s leader.
CNN has previously reported that Zelensky told a group of journalists in Kyiv that the main topics of his conversation with the president on Friday at the White House will include “air defence and our possibilities with long-range (missiles to put) pressure on Russia.”