Trump speaks to Putin as he considers Ukraine’s push for long-range missiles
US President Donald Trump is speaking to Russia’s Vladimir Putin as he considers Ukraine’s push for long-range missiles.
Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post late on Thursday morning that he was engaged in a lengthy phone call with Mr Putin and would give an update on what they talked about as soon as it was over.
The call comes ahead of Mr Trump’s meeting on Friday at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been pressing the US president to sell Kyiv Tomahawk missiles that would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian territory.
Mr Zelensky has argued such strikes would help compel Mr Putin to take Mr Trump’s calls for direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the war more seriously.
Mr Trump had told reporters travelling with him to Israel on Sunday that he had planned to discuss the Tomahawks with Mr Putin as a way to pressure him to end the war.
“Do they want to have Tomahawks going in that direction? I don’t think so,” Mr Trump said on Sunday.
“I think I might speak to Russia about that.”
The White House official who disclosed the Trump-Putin call was not authorised to comment on it publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
With a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal holding, Mr Trump has said he is now turning his attention to bringing Russia’s war on Ukraine to an end and is weighing providing Kyiv with long-range weaponry as he looks to prod Moscow to the negotiating table.
Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza was central to Mr Trump’s 2024 re-election pitch, in which he persistently pilloried President Joe Biden for his handling of the conflicts.
Yet, like his predecessor, Mr Trump has also been stymied by Mr Putin as he has unsuccessfully pressed the Russian leader to hold direct talks with Mr Zelensky to end the war that is nearing its fourth year.
But fresh off the Gaza ceasefire, Mr Trump is showing new confidence that he can finally make headway on ending the Russian invasion.
He is also signalling that he is ready to step up pressure on Mr Putin if he does not come to the table soon.
“Interestingly we made progress today, because of what’s happened in the Middle East,” Mr Trump said of the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday evening as he welcomed supporters of his White House ballroom project to a glitzy dinner.
Earlier this week in Jerusalem, in a speech to the Knesset, Mr Trump predicted the truce in Gaza would lay the groundwork for the US to help Israel and many of its Middle East neighbours normalise relations.
But Mr Trump also made clear his top foreign policy priority now is ending the largest armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War.
“First we have to get Russia done,” Mr Trump said, turning to his special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has also served as his administration’s chief interlocutor with Mr Putin.
“We gotta get that one done. If you don’t mind, Steve, let’s focus on Russia first. All right?”
Mr Trump is set to host Mr Zelensky for talks on Friday, their fourth face-to-face meeting this year.
Ahead of the meeting, Mr Trump has said he is weighing selling Kyiv long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory – if Mr Putin does not settle the war soon.
Mr Zelensky, who has long sought the weapons system, said it would help Ukraine put the sort of pressure on Russia needed to get Mr Putin to engage in peace talks.
Mr Putin has made clear that providing Ukraine with Tomahawks would cross a red line and further damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
But Mr Trump has been undeterred.
“He’d like to have Tomahawks,” Mr Trump said of Mr Zelensky on Tuesday.
“We have a lot of Tomahawks.”
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