Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Washington on October 16 and met with President Trump at the White House the following day to discuss supplying Kyiv with long-range, high-impact weapons such as Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Zelensky arrived confident. At the time, Trump had appeared ready to increase military support for Ukraine and to strengthen Ukraine’s position against Russia.
But just before the meeting, Putin phoned Trump. In a post on Truth Social, Trump quoted Putin praising the Gaza peace agreement as “a major achievement for Middle East peace — something humanity has long hoped for.” During the call, Putin warned that transferring Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would damage Moscow–Washington relations, undermine any hope for peace, and would not significantly help on the battlefield, according to Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov. Trump appeared to take those arguments on board.
After the call, the U.S. president told reporters he was skeptical about providing Tomahawks to Ukraine and suggested it might not be the right moment to tighten sanctions on Russia. “I’m not opposed to it — I’m only saying it may not be the right time now; it could happen in a week or two. But the decision is mine,” he said.
The next day, when Trump met Zelensky at the White House, he told reporters at the start of the meeting that he hoped “we can end the war without having to consider Tomahawks. I think we’re pretty close to that. We don’t want to give away things we need to protect our country.”
Rather than announcing additional support for Ukraine or new sanctions on Russia, Trump said he would hold a second summit with President Putin in Budapest, Hungary, to “see if we can end the inglorious war between Russia and Ukraine.”
The president did not press Russia to stop strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of winter. As he did after the Alaska summit in August, he also eased pressure on Moscow to accept a ceasefire. He urged both Russia and Ukraine to freeze the current frontline as a basis for peace talks. Zelensky said he would accept the proposal as a starting point for dialogue, but it remained unclear whether Putin would agree.
Facing concerns that Putin might be seeking to buy time, Trump acknowledged the risk but said, “I’m also comfortable with that — I’ve been played many times by very smart people and done fine. If it takes a bit longer, that’s not a problem. I think I’m good at this stuff.”
Trump did not blame Putin for refusing concessions; instead, he said the long-standing “hatred” between Russian and Ukrainian leaders was the main obstacle to a peace deal. “There’s tremendous hatred between them — I think that’s what’s preventing an agreement,” he said.
It is not yet clear what Putin offered to persuade Trump that a breakthrough might be possible at a Budapest summit. At a joint press appearance with Zelensky after their meeting, Trump reiterated, “I think President Putin wants to end the war,” a claim he has made repeatedly.
The planned Budapest summit, expected to be hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in roughly two weeks, will see U.S. and Russian representatives “discuss next steps with the goal of finding a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis,” according to Russian statements.
Observers, however, remain skeptical that the announcement signals a quick resolution or any significant shift in Moscow’s position. Russia has long maintained that the Ukraine conflict is complex and not susceptible to rapid settlement.
One Kremlin journalist summed up Zelensky’s White House visit bluntly: “Putin has once again outmaneuvered everyone,” a comment that was shared on social media by Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and an adviser to Putin. Since Trump’s election, Putin has repeatedly used diplomatic moves to court his American counterpart, even claiming that the 2022 conflict might not have occurred if Trump had still been in office.
The October 16 phone call appears to have returned leverage to Russia. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on October 19, Trump even suggested Ukraine might accept ceding a large part of the Donbass region to end the fighting — a scenario Kyiv has repeatedly rejected. “Leave it the way it is. I think Russia controls roughly 78% of that territory. Leave it for now; they can negotiate later,” he said.