Trump says he plans to meet with Putin again: NPR

President Trump announced Thursday that he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hungary to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, after what he called a “very productive call” with the Russian leader.

The president announced plans to hold another summit in Budapest in a social media post following a two-hour call in which the two leaders discussed war, trade and the Middle East.

“At the conclusion of the call, we agreed that there would be a meeting of our senior advisors next week,” Trump wrote, emphasizing that the meetings would be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He said a location would be determined.

“President Putin and I will then meet at an agreed location in Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can put an end to this ‘inglorious’ war between Russia and Ukraine,” he added.

Trump boasted that “great progress” had been made on the call and that he would discuss it when he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday at the White House.

Trump and Zelensky are expected to discuss the possibility of the United States providing Ukraine with long-range missiles.

Trump was widely criticized after his last meeting with Putin over the summer. This summit, in Alaska, resulted in no significant action towards the end of the war. Trump traveled to Alaska to call for a ceasefire before backing down.

Trump also said after the summit that his team would plan a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, which also never happened. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump still believes a meeting between Putin and Zelensky is possible.

Asked if conditions had changed to make a second meeting with Putin more fruitful, Leavitt said, “I think the president is still willing to take a chance on diplomacy.”