Trump Calls His Frenemy Putin Before Meeting With Zelensky
The chat comes after Trump mused about arming Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles.
Getty Images
President Donald Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin on Thursday—one day before hosting Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.
The president, 79, said on Truth Social that Putin congratulated him for the “Great Accomplishment of Peace in the Middle East” and asserted that his “Success in the Middle East will help in our negotiation in attaining an end to the War with Russia/Ukraine.”
He also announced that “High Level Advisors” of the United States and Russia will meet next week at a yet-to-be-determined location. He said he will then meet with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, “to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end.”
The announcement on Truth Social follows Trump’s public musing that he might deliver the Russian president an ultimatum to hold “serious” peace talks or see Washington arm Kyiv with Tomahawk long-range missiles.
The potential introduction of the long-range cruise missiles would represent a major step-change in capability for Ukraine, extending its strike range deep into Russian territory.
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Trump has said he is weighing the move as leverage to force negotiations almost four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, telling allies he has “sort of made a decision,” Axios reported.
February’s Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelensky could not have gone much worse.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The Ukrainian president will likely be hoping Friday’s Oval Office session will be more like his cordial August meeting with Trump at the White House than their stormy encounter in February.
Then, Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky for not voicing enough thanks for U.S. help in the war against Russia, before a shouting match ensued.
A Russian lawmaker later boasted that the “ambush” of Zelensky by Trump and Vance had been predicted in Moscow.
Trump’s fresh outreach to Putin comes amid continued Russian strikes and Ukrainian pleas for longer-range precision weapons.
The U.S. president’s aides have framed his approach as accelerating a “fast peace deal,” while European governments have warned that conditions rewarding territorial grabs would be unacceptable.
Trump’s tough treatment of Zelensky has generally been markedly different from that of his “good friend” Putin, for whom he rolled out a red carpet during their Aug. 15 Alaska summit—complete with flyover and a chauffeured spin in the presidential limo.
Donald Trump welcomed Vladimir Putin to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Aug. 15 in Anchorage, pulling out all the stops.
Contributor/Getty Images
Russian state TV then gloated that Putin had “hoodwinked” Trump during that limo ride, basking in the optics even as the meeting yielded no concrete concessions from Moscow.
Trump left Alaska the same day, reportedly “with nothing except a lecture” from Putin, who largely ignored his requests. Days later, Trump publicly bragged about the “warmth” from Putin and the “respect” he showed him.
Soon, however, Trump was floating U.S.–European “security guarantees” for Kyiv if a ceasefire emerged—remarks that suggested a softer line toward Zelensky after their earlier Oval Office blow-up. Their next White House meeting, on Aug. 18, was downright cordial.
Relations were better between Zelensky and Trump come August.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Trump said his call with Putin Thursday will be a topic of discussion with Zelenskyy on Friday.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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