President Donald Trump on Thursday had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the conversation was “very productive” and said Putin congratulated him on brokering a peace deal between Israel and Hamas. “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 wrote.
The two leaders “spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over,” according to Trump.
The president explained that he and Putin “agreed that there will be a meeting of our High Level Advisors, next week.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead a delegation to engage in negotiations with Russia at a location that will be determined later. “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 wrote. “[Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and I will be meeting tomorrow, in the Oval Office, where we will discuss my conversation with President Putin, and much more. I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during an appearance on Fox News, characterized the conversation as “productive” as well.
BREAKING: President Trump and Karoline Leavitt announced that after a phone call with Putin, they agreed to a meeting of high-level advisors next week.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 16, 2025
This is HUGE!
Peace in the Middle East might just end the Russia/Ukraine war.
Trump is MAKING HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/lwM3wyqWFN
This development could signal a shift toward multilateral negotiations between the three countries. After nearly four years of fighting, the war in Ukraine has remained static. Russian forces continue to occupy territory in Eastern Ukraine. The US and European nations have backed Ukraine with military aid and financial assistance.
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Trump and Putin met earlier this year in Alaska to kickstart the negotiation process. However, progress has been stalled since the gathering took place.
The meeting in Budapest could set the stage for Ukraine and Russia reaching a peace agreement. Perhaps Trump can build on the momentum he gained from the Israel-Hamas deal.
Of course, if the Budapest meeting happens, we can expect the same outpouring of criticism from the left that occurred when Trump sat down with Putin in Alaska. Folks on the left were highly enraged that Trump was trying to end a war — just as with the situation in Gaza.
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