President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would be holding a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hungary in the upcoming weeks. This announcement comes as Trump is set to first engage with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in Washington, D.C. on Friday.

Sharing his plans on Truth Social, Trump’s own social media platform, he revealed that a “meeting of our High Level Advisors,” under the leadership of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is scheduled for next week, though the exact location remains undecided.

Trump stated, “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 added, “President Zelenskyy and I will be meeting tomorrow in the Oval Office, where we will discuss my conversation with President Putin, and much more. I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation.”

Meanwhile, the situation on the ground in Ukraine remains tense. Firefighters have been working tirelessly at a site where an energy infrastructure enterprise was targeted during overnight missile and drone strikes by Russia in the Poltava region, as reported on October 16, 2025. This information was provided by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region via a handout from REUTERS.

During his lengthy conversation with Putin, Trump focused on U.S.-Russia trade relations. However, he did not address the issue of the U.S. supplying Ukraine with advanced defense systems, such as Tomahawk missiles. This topic is a significant point of interest for Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington, and it is reportedly a key reason for Trump initiating the call with Putin in the first place.

Earlier this week, Trump said he would need to speak with Putin to see if he wants “to have the Tomahawks going in their direction.”

Acquiring Tomahawk missiles is a top priority for Zelenskyy, as the sophisticated weaponry would be able to reach far beyond Moscow and could change Ukraine’s ability to hit not only more of Russia’s military complex but its oil industry, which largely funds its war chest.

The announcement of the Trump-Putin meeting comes just hours after Russian missile and drone strikes pounded Ukrainian cities and energy sites in the early hours of Thursday morning.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy said more than 300 drones and 37 missiles, of which a “significant number of them ballistic” rained out across the country, hitting not only near the front lines but the western-central city of Vinnytsia.

Apartment buildings are damaged by Russian military strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, Ukraine Oct. 13, 2025.  (Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS )

“There are wounded. Recovery efforts are underway everywhere. Emergency services are working,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Russians are also reported to be using “double terror” tactics by targeting firefighters and energy workers with Shahed drones carrying cluster munitions. 

“This autumn, the Russians use every single day to strike at our energy infrastructure,” he added. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has turned a deaf ear to everything the world says, so the only language that can still get through to him is the language of pressure – pressure through sanctions and pressure through long-range capabilities.”

Zelenskyy is traveling to D.C. on Thursday to meet with Trump, as well as defense and energy officials, to discuss how to ramp up the pressure on Putin in an effort to counter his war ambitions in Ukraine. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) meets with US President Donald Trump (R) in Washington D.C., United States on Aug. 19, 2025.  ( Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Trump told reporters this week that other defensive items, like more Patriot missiles, will be discussed in the Friday talks as well. 

Trump has not confirmed whether he will give Ukraine the Tomahawk missiles, but he has increasingly voiced his frustration that Putin will not stop his war ambitions despite his efforts since re-entering the White House in January.