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Trump says he will meet Putin in Budapest, touting progress in Ukraine talks
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to another summit on the war in Ukraine, a surprise move that came as Moscow feared fresh U.S. military support for Kyiv.
Trump and Putin may meet within the next two weeks in Budapest, the U.S. president said, after a more than two-hour phone conversation he called productive. The Kremlin confirmed plans for the meeting, though neither side provided a date for when it would occur, Reuters reported.
“My whole life, I’ve made deals,” Trump told reporters later at the White House. “I think we’re going to have this one done, hopefully soon.”
The development came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was headed to the White House on Friday to push for more military support, including U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk missiles.
NEW UKRAINE SUPPORT IN QUESTION
The White House had seemed in recent days to be leaning toward granting Zelenskiy fresh support and increasingly frustrated with Putin.
Yet Trump’s conciliatory tone following the Russia call left in question the near-term likelihood of assistance and reignited European fears of U.S. capitulation to Moscow.
Since taking office in January, Trump has regularly threatened action against Russia, only to delay those steps after talks with Putin.
Trump sought a ceasefire ahead of an Alaska summit with Putin in August that produced none. At the time, some analysts said Putin pocketed U.S. concessions with no intent to halt fighting.
Three-way talks between Putin, Zelenskiy, and Trump, another goal sought by Washington at the time, never materialized, and there is no immediate plan for such a meeting now.
The Republican president has positioned himself as a peacemaker, brandishing diplomatic achievements including the recent Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal. He has said he thought the war in Ukraine, which began with Russia’s 2022 invasion, would have been easier to end.
“Putin is trying to derail the momentum toward greater pressure on Russia,” said Dan Fried, a former State Department official. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but the chances of moving toward a ceasefire by pushing Russia to get serious seem to have diminished.”
PUTIN WARNS TRUMP ABOUT SUPPLYING MISSILES
During the call, Putin told Trump that supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine would harm the peace process and damage U.S.-Russia ties, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
“What do you think he’s going to say, ‘Please sell Tomahawks?'” Trump later joked with reporters. “No, he doesn’t want,” Tomahawks given to Ukraine, Trump added, calling them a “vicious weapon.”
Zelenskiy, already in Washington, said Putin’s decision to seek talks showed he was on the defensive.
“We can already see that Moscow is rushing to resume dialogue as soon as it hears about Tomahawks,” he said on X.
The Hungarian location selected for the Trump-Putin summit has drawn attention. Putin is wanted for alleged war crimes in some jurisdictions, restricting his travel.
Ukraine’s relationship with Hungary has grown increasingly tense. Zelenskiy accused Hungarian drones of crossing into Ukraine last month, prompting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to retort that Ukraine was not an independent sovereign state.
In contrast to most NATO and European Union leaders, Orban has maintained cordial relations with Russia while questioning the logic of Western military aid for Kyiv.
“The planned meeting between the American and Russian presidents is great news for the peace-loving people of the world,” Orban said on X. “We are ready!” He later said he had spoken by phone with Trump and that preparations for a U.S.-Russia peace summit were under way.
The Trump-Putin meeting is expected to follow talks next week between teams led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at a location to be determined.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would brief Zelenskiy on the Russia talks in the Oval Office on Friday.
UKRAINE WANTS TO EXPAND ATTACK RANGE
Kyiv and Moscow have been escalating their war as it heads toward a four-year anniversary with massive attacks on energy infrastructure. NATO has struggled to respond to a spate of Russian air incursions.
Ukraine wants missiles that would put Moscow and other major Russian cities within its range of fire.
In its latest barrage, Russia launched more than 300 drones and 37 missiles to target infrastructure across Ukraine in overnight attacks on Thursday, Zelenskiy said. Kyiv has ramped up its own attacks on Russian targets, including an oil refinery in the Saratov region on Thursday.
In his latest warnings to Russia, Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian oil, and that the administration would push China to do the same. India has not confirmed any such commitment. The countries are among Russia’s biggest trading partners.
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Central Asia and Afghanistan are key security concerns for CSTO: Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that security risks in Central Asia and developments in Afghanistan are among the primary concerns for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
The CSTO is a regional military alliance that includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Speaking in Moscow during a meeting with CSTO Secretary-General Taalatbek Masadykov, Lavrov described the region’s security challenges as “central” to the organization’s agenda.
“The problems that are currently among the central ones for the CSTO are new challenges and threats. I am referring to the situation in the Central Asian region of collective security, as well as everything related to what is happening in Afghanistan,” he said.
He praised Masadykov as “one of the leading experts” on Central Asian security, noting that his experience could enhance coordination and increase the effectiveness of allied actions.
Similar to NATO, the CSTO considers an attack on one member state as an attack on all.
Countries in the region have always expressed concern about security threats from Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate, however, has dismissed these concerns and assured that it will not allow Afghanistan’s soil to be used against another country.
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Afghanistan to establish first-ever faculty of ‘prophetic medicine’
The Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan has announced that the leader of the Islamic Emirate has approved the establishment of a faculty dedicated to “Prophetic Medicine.”
According to the ministry, this new faculty will play a vital role in advancing medical sciences and training skilled healthcare professionals across the country.
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Renovation of Afghanistan–Iran border markers to begin in the near future
Afghanistan’s Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, Noorullah Noori, has announced that the long-delayed demarcation and renovation of border markers along the Afghanistan–Iran frontier will officially begin in the near future.
According to a statement from the ministry, Noori made the remarks during a meeting with Iran’s ambassador to Kabul, Ali-Reza Bikdeli.
He assured the Iranian side that the Islamic Emirate is fully committed to accelerating the process and resolving any challenges that may arise during implementation.
In a separate statement, the Iranian Embassy in Kabul said Bikdeli underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation on border issues, describing it as a key factor in strengthening and expanding overall relations between the two countries.
Officials from both sides agreed nearly three months ago to resume the border-marker renovation project, which had remained stalled for the past seven years.
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