U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to hold another meeting to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. The two leaders had a lengthy and productive phone call, during which they discussed the conflict. A specific date for the meeting has not yet been announced.
The conversation occurred a day before Trump is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington, D.C. Zelenskyy is expected to request that the U.S. supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, which would enable the country to conduct long-range strikes on Russian territory. In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that he would brief Zelenskyy on the discussions with Putin during their meeting in the Oval Office.
“I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” Trump said. He also mentioned that senior U.S. and Russian officials will meet next week to prepare for a potential future summit between himself and Putin.
This call marks the first known direct communication between the two leaders since their summit in Alaska in August. The development comes as Zelenskyy prepares to meet Trump at the White House, where Ukrainian officials are seeking increased support to counter Russian attacks and strengthen their capacity to strike back.
On Thursday, Russian forces continued their bombardment of Ukraine, launching hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight. These attacks targeted infrastructure, including energy facilities. Eight Ukrainian regions experienced power outages, according to Ukrenergo, the national energy operator. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, reported outages in Kyiv and halted natural gas extraction in the Poltava region due to the strikes.
This marks the sixth time this month that natural gas infrastructure has been damaged, as reported by Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company.
Earlier this week, Russian forces attacked a hospital and a United Nations convoy in Ukraine, injuring 57 people and forcing the evacuation of 50 patients. In response, Kyiv has intensified its attacks on Russian targets, including a strike on an oil refinery in the Saratov region.
Zelenskyy has argued that enhancing Ukraine’s ability to conduct long-range strikes could pressure Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations more seriously. Tomahawk cruise missiles, with a range of approximately 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles), could enable strikes on Moscow and other major Russian cities. While Putin has warned that supplying such missiles to Ukraine would represent a “whole new level of escalation,” Trump has indicated he is considering the possibility.
“I might talk to [Putin], I might say, ‘Look, if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks.’ I may say that,” Trump told reporters over the weekend.
Trump made these remarks while en route to Israel, where he addressed the Israeli parliament as a ceasefire he helped broker in Gaza took effect. During his speech, he suggested that the Gaza ceasefire could serve as a model for a truce between Russia and Ukraine, signaling his willingness to exert pressure on Putin.
“First we have to get Russia done,” Trump said.
Trump and Putin met in Alaska in August to discuss ending Moscow’s war in Ukraine, but the summit concluded without a deal. Since then, Trump has increased pressure on world leaders to stop purchasing Russian oil. This week, he claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged to cease buying Russian oil.
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