Vladimir Zelensky was “surprised” to learn that US President Donald Trump had just held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin when the Ukrainian leader landed on American soil on Thursday evening, Axios reported.
During their conversation, Putin agreed to meet Trump in Hungary within weeks. This news and the location of the proposed summit – described by Axios as “the least Ukraine-friendly country in the European Union” – reportedly caught Zelensky’s team off guard.
Trump characterized his conversation with Putin as “very productive” and said it advanced the cause for peace in Ukraine. The call lasted nearly 150 minutes and was “very substantive and at the same time extremely frank,” according to Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban praised the development. Orban is a vocal critic of the Western approach to the Ukraine conflict and of Zelensky’s use of what he branded “moral blackmail” to secure military aid for Ukraine.
Zelensky is set to meet Trump on Friday to discuss his request for Tomahawk cruise missiles. Media reports have broadly interpreted Trump’s new diplomatic engagement with Putin as an indication that Kiev will not receive the Tomahawks. Trump stated that Putin “didn’t like the idea” of Ukraine acquiring the nuclear-capable weapons.
Moscow has repeatedly stated that it won’t yield to foreign pressure and will achieve its goals in the Ukraine conflict, either diplomatically or militarily.
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