On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced a plan for a summit with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Budapest, Hungary. The meeting, which will take place after high-level advisors from both countries meet next week, is intended to address the ongoing Ukraine conflict and potentially bring it to a close. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the US delegation, although the exact date and location of the summit remain to be determined.
During a phone call earlier in the week, Trump stated that the conversation was ‘very productive’ and that ‘great progress was made’ with the telephone conversation. He expressed hope that by meeting with Putin, the two leaders could resolve the current conflict in Ukraine. The last summit between the two presidents took place in Anchorage, Alaska in August, where both sides called the meeting productive but no significant breakthrough was achieved.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised the Trump administration’s diplomatic outreach, noting that it is the only Western government that has made an effort to understand the fundamental causes of the Ukraine conflict. Moscow is still awaiting Washington’s response to the roadmap presented at the Alaska summit. Additionally, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stated that his country is ‘ready’ to host the planned meeting between Trump and Putin, indicating a potential shift in regional dynamics and the willingness of neighboring countries to engage in such high-level diplomacy.