President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest on an unspecified date following a meeting between their top advisers next week.
Trump took to Truth Social shortly after 1:00 p.m. ET to share details of “a very productive” and lengthy phone call he had with Putin as his effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war continues on the heels of striking a generational peace deal in the Middle East.
“At the conclusion of the call, we agreed that there will be a meeting of our High Level Advisors, next week. 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, ” Trump wrote
“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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting the White House on Friday.
Trump said he and Putin spoke about the economic possibilities between Russia and the United States when the war is brought to a close.
“President Putin thanked the First Lady, Melania, for her involvement with children. He was very appreciative, and said that this will continue,” Trump wrote. “We also spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over.”
Trump noted that he and Putin also discussed Trump’s monumental success in getting Hamas to enter into the first phase of a peace deal, which included their release of living hostages and some deceased hostages’ remains earlier this week, while efforts are ongoing to recover the remaining deceased hostages.
“President Putin congratulated me and the United States on the Great Accomplishment of Peace in the Middle East, something that, he said, has been dreamed of for centuries,” Trump shared. “I actually believe that the Success in the Middle East will help in our negotiation in attaining an end to the War with Russia/Ukraine.”
The call between Trump and Putin comes as Trump has pressured Indian President Narendra Modi to stop buying Russian oil.
“I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” Trump wrote at the conclusion of his post.
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