- Kremlin says Putin warned Trump that Tomahawk choice could hurt peace process
In a post on Truth Social after the conclusion of his call with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump says their conversation was “very productive” and that “great progress” was made with the Russian leader.
He says Putin congratulated him for the “great accomplishment of peace in the Middle East, something that, he said, has been dreamed of for centuries”.
Trump says he and Putin agreed that a meeting of high-level advisers, led on the US side by secretary of state Marco Rubio, would take place next week.
“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 adds that he will discuss today’s call with Putin with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House tomorrow “and much more”.
Trump also says Putin thanked his wife, Melania Trump, for her “involvement with children”, saying the Russian was “very appreciative, and said that this will continue”.
Melania wrote a letter to Putin, which Trump handed to the Russian in Alaska in August, raising concerns over Ukraine’s missing children.
Trump adds the two leaders also spoke about trade between the US and Russia when the Ukraine war ends.
Meanwhile, Kremlin says Vladimir Putin warned Donald Trump during their phone call that giving Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles would harm US-Russia ties and the peace process.
The Russian president also told Trump that Moscow’s forces currently have “full strategic initiative” along the entire front line in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Ushakov said a planned new summit between the two presidents will be preceded by a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in the coming days.
He also said the call, which lasted just shorter than two and a half hours, took place on Russia’s initiative.
And Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has applauded Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s plans to meet in Budapest in a post on X.
He says it’s “great news for the peace-loving people of the world.”
