Trump says he will meet Putin in Hungary after ‘productive’ talks ahead of Zelenskyy’s White House visit

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss ending the war in Ukraine after a productive conversation on Thursday (October 16, 2025).

No date for the meeting was provided, but Mr. Trump said in a social media post he believed “great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation.” Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet Mr. Trump on Friday (October 17) at the White House to push for Tomahawk missiles.

Earelier in the evening, Mr. Trump on his Truth Social network, said: “I am speaking to President Putin now”. “The conversation is ongoing, a lengthy one, and I will report the contents, as will President Putin, at its conclusion.”

The call comes as Mr. Trump shows mounting frustration over the Kremlin leader’s refusal to end the 2022 invasion of Ukraine despite their recent summit in Alaska.

Mr. Trump is now considering a request from Ukraine for American-made Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have range of around 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) and could strike deep into Russia.

During Mr. Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump at the White House on Friday (October 17) “the main topic of discussion is Tomahawks,” a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Thursday.

President Trump had warned at the weekend that he would likely raise the issue first with Mr. Putin, who has warned that the supply of Tomahawks would be a “whole new level of escalation.”

“I might talk to him, I might say, ‘Look, if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks.’ I may say that,” Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the Middle East. “The Tomahawk is a incredible weapon, very offensive weapon, and honestly, Russia does not need that.”

‘Go offensive’

Mr. Trump added on Wednesday (October 15) that the Ukrainians “want to go offensive” and that they would discuss Kyiv’s request for the cruise missiles. The U.S. leader has said he wants to up the pressure on Moscow for a peace deal following the ceasefire agreement he brokered in Gaza between Israel and Hamas last week.

Relations between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy have meanwhile warmed since February, when they sparred during a now infamous televised meeting at the White House in which the U.S. leader told his Ukrainian counterpart: “You don’t have the cards.”

The senior Ukrainian source said the tone of rhetoric between the White House and Kyiv was now “very businesslike” and that Washington understood pressure on Russia “will work to end it all.”

Tomahawks would be a major addition to Ukraine’s arsenal, consolidating Kyiv’s long-range strike abilities with a missile that can fly just above the ground at near supersonic speed to avoid radar. The United States has used Tomahawks for more than 40 years and in some of the country’s most high-profile conflicts, from the 1991 Gulf War to this year’s U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program.

‘Bullying’

Senior Ukrainian officials visiting Washington this week met with representatives of US weapon manufacturers, including Raytheon, which produces Tomahawk missiles.

Zelenskyy will also meet with arms makers to discuss when deliveries could begin “but they need a political signal,” the Ukrainian source added.

With the war now in its fourth year, Russia launched fresh attacks on energy facilities in eastern Ukraine, repeating the pattern of focusing on Kyiv’s power network that it has followed every winter. Energy has been a core factor throughout the war, with Trump saying on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him New Delhi would stop buying Russian oil.

But Mr. Putin said Thursday (October 16) that his country was still among the world’s top oil producers, despite what he called “unfair” anti-competitive practices used against it. China, a major purchaser of Russian oil, meanwhile rejected “unilateral bullying” by Washington.

With inputs from AFP, AP, Reuters