U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, for talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict following a phone conversation between the two leaders, Reuters reports.
"I have just concluded my telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, and it was a very productive one," said Trump on Truth Social.
"We also spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over," he said.
"I believe great progress was made with today's telephone conversation," he added.
Trump said the two countries agreed to hold a high-level advisors' meeting next week, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the U.S. delegation, adding that the meeting location is to be determined.
"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," Trump said.
The phone conversation came one day ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's scheduled visit to the White House.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump held their eighth phone conversation on Thursday, said Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov.
Ushakov described the Russia-initiated call, which lasted nearly 2 hours and a half, as "extremely candid."
The Ukraine crisis was a key focus of the call, he said, noting that Putin provided a detailed assessment of the current situation, emphasizing Russia's commitment to resolving the Ukraine issue through political and diplomatic means.
According to Ushakov, one of Trump's key points during the conversation was that ending the conflict in Ukraine would unlock enormous prospects for economic cooperation between Russia and the United States.
Ushakov said that Trump proposed Budapest, Hungary, as a venue for a future Russia-U.S. summit.
"It was agreed that representatives from both countries will immediately begin work on preparing for the summit," Ushakov added.
He also said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday that his country is ready to host talks between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
Orban made the statement in a post on X following Trump's announcement of a planned meeting in Budapest aimed at seeking an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
He described the planned meeting as "great news for the peace-loving people of the world," saying that Hungary is ready to facilitate the talks.
Trump and Putin met in the U.S. state of Alaska in August, but no deal was reached. In late September, Trump said on social media that he believes Ukraine, with the support of the European Union and NATO, "is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form."
