Call between US and Russian leaders results in Trump softening stance on Moscow and talk of meeting in Hungary
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Vladimir Putin’s surprise phone call with Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to undercut Ukrainian hopes of receiving Tomahawk missiles as Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington to meet the US president and discuss the issue.
The Kremlin’s top aide, Yuri Ushakov, said Putin had initiated the conversation with Trump, during which the Russian leader urged his US counterpart not to supply Ukraine with the Tomahawk missiles – a weapon long sought by Kyiv that would give it its longest-range strike capability yet and bring Moscow within reach.
It was the eighth known call between the two men since Trump began his second term in January, and followed a familiar pattern in the complex and often confusing contest between Putin and Zelenskyy for Trump’s ear.
