With a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal holding in Gaza, Trump said he's now turning his attention to bringing the war in Ukraine to an end.
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US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Hungary to try to resolve the war in Ukraine, but a date has yet to be determined.
Trump spoke with Putin by phone on Thursday as he considers Ukraine's push for long-range missiles.
The call comes ahead of Trump’s meeting on Friday at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been pressing the US president to sell Kyiv Tomahawk missiles that would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian territory.
Zelenskyy has argued such strikes would help compel Putin to take Trump's calls for direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the war more seriously.
Trump had told reporters traveling with him to Israel on Sunday that he had planned to discuss Tomahawks with Putin as a way to pressure him to end the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"Do they want to have Tomahawks going in that direction? I don't think so," Trump said on Sunday. "I think I might speak to Russia about that."
With a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal holding in Gaza, Trump said he's now turning his attention to bringing the war in Ukraine to an end and is weighing providing Kyiv with long-range weaponry as he looks to prod Moscow back to the negotiating table.
Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza was central to Trump's 2024 re-election pitch, in which he persistently pilloried President Joe Biden for his handling of the conflicts.
Yet, like his predecessor, Trump also has been stymied by Putin as he's unsuccessfully pressed the Russian leader to hold direct talks with Zelenskyy, to end the war which is nearing its fourth year.
But fresh off the Gaza ceasefire, Trump is showing new confidence that he can finally make headway on ending the Russian invasion.
He's also signalling that he's ready to step up pressure on Putin if he doesn't come to the table soon.
"Interestingly we made progress today, because of what's happened in the Middle East," Trump said of the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday evening as he welcomed supporters of his White House ballroom project to a dinner.
At a speech to Israel's Knesset in Jerusalem earlier this week, Trump predicted the truce in Gaza would lay the groundwork for the US to help Israel and many of its Middle East neighbours normalise relations.
But Trump also made clear his top foreign policy priority now is ending the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
"First we have to get Russia done," Trump said, turning to his special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has also served as his administration's chief interlocutor with Putin.
"We gotta get that one done. If you don’t mind, Steve, let's focus on Russia first. All right?"