US President Donald Trump has announced his intention to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Budapest, in an attempt to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He did not specify when the meeting will take place. Trump added that he would also meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday 17 October to discuss his phone conversation with Putin.
The Kremlin has stated that Thursday's (16 October) phone conversation between Putin and Trump lasted more than two hours and was 'sincere and based on trust'. Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said that Putin had initiated the call and congratulated Trump on the ceasefire in Gaza. He also claimed that further deliveries of US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would significantly affect US–Russia relations. Ushakov also noted that preparations for the Trump–Putin meeting in Budapest would begin with talks between senior US and Russian diplomats.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that his government is ready to host the summit in Budapest. In a comment on X, Orban wrote that “The planned meeting between the American and Russian presidents is great news for the peace-loving people of the world. We are ready!”. Moreover, according to Agerpres, Orban has expressed that Europe must negotiate independently with Russia rather than wait for U.S.–Russia arrangements. He emphasised that Ukraine should be a key point in any agreement, though not necessarily the most important, and proposed building a new European security system, clarifying armament issues, and establishing monitoring mechanisms, given recent abandonments of arms treaties.
