Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, without giving a specific date, after a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart during which "great progress was made," according to him.

He made the unexpected announcement on the eve of a meeting at the White House with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, who hopes that Washington will supply him with Tomahawk missiles despite protests from Moscow.

"It was agreed that representatives of the two countries will immediately begin preparing for a summit, which could be held, for example, in Budapest," Vladimir Putin's diplomatic adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters after the telephone conversation.

"We are ready!" commented Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ally of the American head of state, on X.

Donald Trump said his exchange with Vladimir Putin on Thursday was "very productive," while the Kremlin described it as "extremely frank and trusting."

- Alaska -

The comments signal a warming between the two leaders, whose relationship had cooled since a summit in Alaska on August 15, announced with great fanfare but concluded without concrete progress on the war in Ukraine.

"We have decided that a meeting of our senior advisors will take place next week. The initial meetings will be led by U.S. Secretary of State Mario Rubio" at a location yet to be determined, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"Then President Putin and I will meet at a previously agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can end this 'inglorious' war between Russia and Ukraine," the US president added.

Vladimir Putin is subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, from which Hungary has decided to withdraw but of which it remains a member until this withdrawal is effective on June 2, 2026.

Viktor Orban had already received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April, who is also the subject of an arrest warrant from the institution based in The Hague (Netherlands).

- Tomahawk -

US Tomahawk missiles would allow Ukraine to strike deep inside Russian territory, and Moscow has warned that delivering these weapons to kyiv would constitute an "escalation" in its eyes.

As Russia steps up strikes against energy infrastructure in Ukraine, causing power cuts, the Tomahawk will be the "main topic" of the meeting with Donald Trump on Friday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Thursday.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Washington Olga Stefanishyna said the Russian strikes revealed the true face of Moscow, which was accused of de facto rejecting peace efforts by sowing "terror."

Russia launched a series of 320 drones and 37 missiles overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which stressed that 283 drones and five missiles had been shot down.

The American president left doubts about his intentions.

On Sunday, he said the Ukrainian army's use of the Tomahawk would be "a new aggressive step."

-Very disappointed-

Upon his return to power, Donald Trump broke the isolation in which the Western powers had kept Vladimir Putin since the start of the war in Ukraine.

He similarly questioned the military aid given to Ukraine by Washington during the presidency of his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

The American president, who has always boasted of having a special relationship with his Russian counterpart, initially assured that he could end the conflict very quickly, before conceding that the undertaking was more complex than expected.

He recently, surprisingly, claimed that Ukraine could win the war. He also repeatedly said he was "very disappointed" with Vladimir Putin.

The US president, however, did not exert significant pressure on Russia to lay down its arms.

AFP