President Donald Trump described the phone call with President Vladimir Putin on Thursday afternoon “a very productive one” and claimed the two made “great progress.”
“President Putin and I will then meet in an agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end,” Trump announced in a post on Truth Social.
The U.S. president offered other details from the conversation.
“President Putin congratulated me and the United States on the Great Accomplishment of Peace in the Middle East, something that, he said, has been dreamed of for centuries,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“I actually believe that the Success in the Middle East will help in our negotiation in attaining an end to the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump added.
Putin showed appreciation for the first lady Melania Trump “for her involvement with children.”
The first lady revealed last week she shares an “open channel of communication” with Putin regarding Ukrainian children displaced in the war. This development comes after Melania Trump hand-delivered a “peace letter” to Putin during his visit to Alaska in August this year.
President Trump said he and Putin also talked about the trade relationship between the two countries after the war is over.
“At the conclusion of the call, we agreed that there will be a meeting of our High Level Advisers, next week,” Trump said.
He noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the initial meetings at a location that is yet to be determined.
The U.S. president also noted his upcoming meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, adding, “we will discuss my conversation with President Putin.”
Around midday Thursday, Trump in a post on Truth Social said, “I am speaking to President (Vladimir) Putin now.”
“The conversation is ongoing, a lengthy one, and I will report the contents, as will President Putin, at its conclusion,” he added.
Trump’s reelection campaign leaned on the promise that he will help bring an end to the war in Europe. During his first year in office, Trump’s rhetoric toward Russia has been amicable up until the last few weeks.
Late last month, Trump called Russia a “paper tiger” while the White House ramped up pressure on Moscow to negotiate. The White House is also threatening to give Ukraine long-range precision strike Tomahawk missiles. These weapons have the ability to reach Moscow.