The Kremlin said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin might meet with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Budapest, Hungary, within two weeks or a little later.
Commenting on a possible Russia-U.S. summit, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there is a "shared understanding that nothing should be put off."
He said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will start working on the issue, and the summit will be organized in stages.
Trump said Thursday that he will meet with Putin in Budapest for talks, following a phone conversation between the two leaders.
According to the Kremlin, the two leaders discussed possible Tomahawk missile deliveries to Ukraine during their phone call.
The Kremlin said in a statement on Friday that Putin briefed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the main points of his phone conversation with Trump during their call that day, and Orban expressed his willingness to provide the necessary conditions for a meeting between the Russian and U.S. leaders in Budapest.
Trump and Putin last met in August in Alaska for talks on Ukraine, but no agreement was reached, and ceasefire negotiations remain deadlocked.
When meeting with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday, Trump ruled out a U.S.-Russia-Ukraine summit in the near future.
Speaking alongside Zelensky before their talks, Trump said his planned meeting with Putin in Hungary would be only a "double meeting," citing "a lot of bad blood" between Moscow and Kiev.
Asked about the possibility of providing U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, a focal point of Washington's tactics on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump said the United States also needs the weapons itself, warning that transferring them to Ukraine could trigger a "big escalation" of the conflict.
Zelensky said there is momentum to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict following the Gaza ceasefire, but he accused Moscow of refusing to return the negotiations and urged Washington to keep pressure on Russia.
The Ukrainian leader also reaffirmed his openness to bilateral or trilateral talks, saying he is willing to consider any format that could help bring the parties closer to peace.
It was Zelensky's third visit to the White House during Trump's second term.
Putin, Trump might meet in Budapest in 2 weeks: Kremlin
Putin, Trump might meet in Budapest in 2 weeks: Kremlin
Putin, Trump might meet in Budapest in 2 weeks: Kremlin
