Trump and Putin to meet in Budapest for talks; Zelensky in U.S. Friday

by · UPI

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said he had a "very productive" phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday and announced there are two more meetings planned to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

"At the conclusion of the call, we agreed that there will be a meeting of our High Level Advisors, next week," Trump announced about his phone call on Truth Social. "The United States' initial meetings will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with various other people, to be designated. A meeting location is to be determined."

After that meeting, he said he and Putin "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 didn't say when the Budapest meeting would happen.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is coming to Washington Friday, and he will meet with Trump in the Oval Office. Trump said he will discuss the Putin phone call with Zelensky.

For the past several days, Trump has said that he's considering sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine in response to the ongoing attacks from Russia. Tomahawks have a more than 1,000-mile range and could reach far deeper into Russian territory.

Before the phone call, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Thursday that the Senate is close to voting on a bipartisan bill to increase sanctions against Russia. "I think the time's right ... we need to move," the BBC reported he said.

Senators are also working to arrange a meeting with Zelensky while he is in town on Friday.

Zelensky said on X on Sunday that Russia "continues its aerial terror against our cities and communities, intensifying strikes on our energy infrastructure. The immorality of these crimes is such that every day Russians kill our people. Yesterday in Kostiantynivka, a child was killed in a church by an aerial bomb. In total, just this week alone, more than 3,100 drones, 92 missiles, and around 1,360 glide bombs have been used against Ukraine."

Zelensky and Trump spoke on Sunday about Ukraine's weapons, supply status and the energy sector ahead of Ukraine's harsh winter.