US President Donald Trump has announced that he plans to meet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, this time in Budapest, to discuss the war in Ukraine, Reuters writes.
After a more than two-hour phone call with Putin, Trump said that he could meet with the Russian dictator in Budapest within the next two weeks. The Kremlin has also confirmed that a meeting is being planned, but neither side has talked about a specific date. Trump told reporters after the conversation that he has been making deals all his life and hopes to deal with this matter soon.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has traveled to the United States, where he is discussing military support for Ukraine with Trump, including long-range Tomahawk missiles.
The White House has recently been leaning more towards supporting Kyiv, and has expressed indignation at Putin’s unwillingness to end the hostilities. However,
Trump’s conciliatory tone after his talks with Putin has raised concerns that aid for Ukraine will not come soon
and that the US could give in to Moscow.
Since taking office at the beginning of the year, Trump has regularly threatened to impose sanctions on Russia, but has always postponed them after talks with Putin. When he met with the Russian dictator in Alaska on the 15th of August, Trump hoped to achieve a ceasefire, and experts later pointed out that Russia had accepted the US concessions on sanctions issues, while not even planning to end the war. The trilateral talks, which were also to include Zelensky, never took place. Former US State Department official Dan Fried indicated that Putin is trying to prevent an opportunity to put more pressure on Russia.
Kremlin advisor Yuri Ushakov informed that during the conversation, Putin pointed out to Trump that if Kyiv receives long-range missiles, it will harm the peace process and US-Russian relations. Trump responded by saying, “What do you think he’s going to say, ‘Please sell Tomahawks?’ No, he doesn’t want.”
Zelensky said Putin’s decision to consider talks showed he was on the defensive, and Moscow seemed to be rushing to resume dialogue as soon as it heard about the missiles.
The choice of Budapest for the possible talks has also attracted widespread attention.
The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest for war crimes, and Hungary falls under its jurisdiction. Ukraine’s relations with Hungary have also been increasingly strained. Zelensky has accused Hungary of launching drones into Ukrainian airspace, to which Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has responded that it was “nothing big” and questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty. Unlike most European Union leaders, Orbán remains warm to Moscow and has questioned Western military aid to Kyiv.
The Russians have resumed heavy attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches, and NATO is trying to respond to Russia’s increasing violations of its airspace. If the Ukrainians receive the Tomahawk, it will give them the ability to strike deep into Russian territory, potentially even Moscow.
Trump announced on the 15th of October that he had agreed with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Asian country would stop buying Russian oil, and his administration would also put pressure on China. However, India has not officially announced the cessation of Russian oil imports.
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