WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday (Oct 16) he would hold another meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest after what he described as “great progress” in a two-hour call about ending the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin did not immediately comment on Trump’s announcement, which came a day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due at the White House to seek more military aid, including long-range missiles.
Trump said he would brief Zelenskyy on the Russia talks during their Oval Office meeting on Friday. “I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
FRESH TALKS RAISE QUESTIONS OVER US SUPPORT
The upbeat tone following the call has cast uncertainty over whether Washington will proceed with new military assistance to Kyiv in the short term.
Trump, who has vowed to end the war quickly, said lower-level meetings between US and Russian officials would take place next week, but did not give a date for the leaders’ summit.
WAR INTENSIFIES ON ENERGY FRONT
The announcement came as Russia and Ukraine exchanged massive strikes on energy infrastructure, leaving millions without power. Kyiv said Moscow launched more than 300 drones and 37 missiles overnight, while Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery in the Saratov region.
“Each day, the Russians use every hour to strike at our energy system,” Zelenskyy said earlier on Thursday.
US PRESSURES INDIA AND CHINA ON RUSSIAN OIL
In a related development, Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged to stop buying Russian oil, a claim New Delhi has not confirmed. Reuters reported that Indian refiners may start reducing imports from December.
Trump said his administration would now push China to take similar steps, warning Moscow’s war funding must be curtailed.
US DEFENCE CHIEF WARNS OF CONSEQUENCES
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that Washington would “impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression” if the conflict did not end soon.
Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s energy facilities for three consecutive winters, and Kyiv has called on Western allies for additional air defence systems to protect its grid.
KREMLIN CONFIRMS PUTIN-TRUMP TALKS, RUBIO-LAVROV CALL PLANNED
The Kremlin said on Thursday that preparations for the next Putin-Trump summit were underway, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expected to speak in the coming days to coordinate details.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the timing of the summit would depend on the pace of the preparatory work, adding that the phone call between Trump and Putin which was their eighth this year and had taken place at Moscow’s initiative.
He said Trump had proposed Budapest as the venue and that Putin had “immediately agreed.”
Ushakov said Putin reiterated that Russian forces held the “strategic initiative” along the front lines in Ukraine, while warning that potential US supplies of Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv would “cause significant damage” to US-Russia relations.
“Vladimir Putin reiterated his thesis that Tomahawk missiles will not change the situation on the battlefield but will cause significant damage to relations between our countries, not to mention the prospects for a peaceful resolution,” Ushakov said.
He added that Trump told Putin he would consider the Russian leader’s remarks when he meets Zelenskyy in Washington on Friday.
According to Ushakov, Trump also spoke of the “enormous potential for economic cooperation” between the United States and Russia once the war ends.
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