Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Hungary’s prime minister, as officials began laying the groundwork for a possible Budapest summit meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump.
The October 17 call came amid a flurry of diplomatic communications centered at finding a resolution to Russia’s war on Ukraine, now in its 44th month.
The call between Budapest and Moscow came a day after Putin and Trump spoke by phone -- a surprise conversation, done at the Kremlin's request, that injected uncertainty into the Oval Office meeting with Trump and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, set for later on October 17.
Zelenskyy, who arrived in Washington shortly before Trump and Putin spoke, is expected to press US officials for new weaponry -- including powerful long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles -- to hold back Russia’s battlefield advances and target Russian infrastructure.
Orban Ready To Host
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- one of Putin's only allies in the EU -- pledged full cooperation to host any possible summit in Budapest.
"Preparations are going full steam ahead!" he said in a post to Facebook.
That appeared to signal that Hungary would not seek to arrest Putin on an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. Hungary is a member of the court, but Orban’s government has said it would move to withdraw.
Budapest is the "essentially only place in Europe today where such a meeting can be held," Orban said ahead of the call, because what he said was Hungary's "consistent" stance for peace.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told reporters in Budapest that "we will of course ensure that he can enter Hungary, hold successful talks here, and then return home."
European Commission spokesman Olof Gill told reporters in Brussels on October 17 that the bloc welcomes "any meeting that moves forward the process of achieving a just and lasting peace for Ukraine."
After his October 16 call, Trump announced that he would seek to meet Putin in Budapest, within two weeks, in what would be their second summit meeting since Trump took office in January.
The Kremlin signaled it supported the idea of meeting in the Hungarian capital.
"Indeed, it may take place within two weeks or a bit later. It’s a mutual understanding that that there’s no need to put off things indefinitely," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his American counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were slated to speak in the coming days to discuss preparations, officials said.
Trump, who took office pledging to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours, has been repeatedly frustrated by the lack of progress in even reaching even a cease-fire, let alone a lasting peace treaty.
In addition to his first summit with Putin in Alaska in August, the two have spoken by phone at least eight times, while White House envoy Steve Witkoff has met with Putin in Moscow at least five times.
Trump’s position toward Putin, and toward Moscow's war overall, has shifted perceptibly in recent months as Russia continues to grind forward on the battlefield and batter Ukrainian cities and towns, including its electricity grid and natural gas infrastructure.
Asked about possible outcomes for a second meeting between Trump and Putin, Roland Freudenstein, who heads the Brussels Freedom Hub, an advocacy group, quipped: "Hopefully none."
"In the worst case, Putin will somehow get Trump to take his side again," he said in an interview with RFE/RL in Brussels.
"It's possible that Putin indeed manages somehow to convince Trump, maybe with promises about bilateral economic relations, maybe with some vague threats. So I wouldn't exclude Trump adopting some of Putin's speaking points after that."
"And the worst that could happen is that he then turns around on Ukraine and pressures Ukraine into making further concessions vis-a-vis Russia," he said.
Will The US Supply Tomahawks?
Similarly with Ukraine, Trump appears to have warmed toward Zelenskyy -- in contrast to a disastrous February meeting at the Oval Office when Zelenskyy was berated by the US leader and Vice President JD Vance on live TV.
But it’s unclear whether Zelenskyy will get Trump’s green light to receiive Tomahawks, powerful missiles that would augment Ukraine’s growing drone campaign targeting Russia’s oil infrastructure.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office not long after his call with Putin, Trump appeared to signal that the missiles would not be supplied, saying the United States could not spare any.
“What do you think he's going to say, ‘Please sell Tomahawks?’ Is he going to say, ‘Please sell those Tomahawks, I really appreciate it?’” Trump said.
“He really didn't like the idea. No, I said it that way; you have to be a little bit lighthearted sometimes,” he said.
“But no, he doesn’t want Tomahawks, the Tomahawk is a vicious weapon," he said. "It’s a vicious, offensive, incredibly destructive weapon. Nobody wants Tomahawks shot at them.”
