Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump announces new Putin meeting hours ahead of hosting Zelensky in Washington

The European Union has unveiled a strategy to bolster its defences, to be fully operational by the decade’s end, amidst concerns over Russian incursions.

A key component is the “European Drone Defense Initiative,” to detect, track, and neutralise rogue drones, following troubling airspace violations across Europe, some near Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian borders.

Complementing this is “Eastern Flank Watch,” a scheme to fortify its eastern frontier across land, Baltic and Black seas, air, and against hybrid attacks.

Initial operation for both is December next year, the drone system fully functional by late 2027 and Eastern Flank Watch in full swing by the end of 2028.

Separate air and space shields are also envisioned.

US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Budapest, with the location reportedly suggested by Trump and immediately agreed to by Putin, according to the Kremlin.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban welcomed the news enthusiastically. He called Hungary an “island of peace” and confirmed that preparations for the summit were underway after speaking directly with Trump.

Budapest is not new to hosting high-level US–Russia talks. It was among the shortlisted locations for the last Trump–Putin summit in Alaska, and it carries significant historical weight in the context of Ukraine.

In 1994, Ukraine handed over the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal under the Budapest Memorandum, receiving security guarantees from Russia, the US, and the UK in return.

Those guarantees were intended to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty – promises that were broken first with Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and later with the full-scale invasion in 2022.

The US president has shown he loves to back a winner – especially one that uses US weapons – which means Zelensky must convince him that he’s the one to back with Tomahawk missiles, writes Sam Kiley in Dnipro:

Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban has expressed strong support for the planned summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

“The planned meeting between the American and Russian presidents is great news for the peace-loving people of the world. We are ready!” he said.

The Hungarian leader added that he had spoken by phone with Trump and that preparations for a US–Russia summit were already underway.

Earlier, Trump announced he would be taking part in a new meeting with Putin in Hungary, with the timing yet to be agreed.

He is meeting the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington DC later today.

A crowd of young people gathered to sing anti-war songs in Kazanskaya Square, including the proscribed song “Swan Lake Collective” by Russian rapper Noize MC, in footage that has now gone viral on social media.

The song, banned from distribution by the Primorsky District Court in May, features anti-Putin lyrics including “The old man still clings to his throne, afraid to let go” and “When the tsar dies, we’ll dance again — ‘Swan Lake’ on every screen.”

Crowds could be heard chanting the chorus: “I want to watch the ballet, let the swans dance. Let the old man shake in fear for his lake”.

A date has not been set, but Mr Trump wrote on social media that the meeting would take place in Budapest.

“I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” the US president wrote after the conversation, which lasted more than two hours.

Their previous summit, in Alaska in August, ended without any significant diplomatic breakthroughs for Mr Trump. Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, said the Russian president initiated the call, which he described as “very frank and trusting”.

It came as Mr Zelensky was heading to the White House to push for more military support, including long-range Tomahawk missiles that would allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory.

Russian president Vladimir Putin’s latest phone call with Donald Trump may have slowed growing US momentum to toughen its stance on Moscow, according to a former US State Department official.

“Putin is trying to derail the momentum toward greater pressure on Russia,” said Dan Fried, a former US State Department official and veteran diplomat who oversaw sanctions policy under multiple administrations.

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow [on Friday, with Zelensky due to meet Trump] but the chances of moving toward a ceasefire by pushing Russia to get serious seem to have diminished.”

The Kremlin described Thursday’s Trump and Putin call as “extremely frank and trustful”.

Earlier, Trump had appeared to harden his position, voicing frustration with Russia’s continued attacks and hinting at a possible decision to provide Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Explosions were reported overnight in both occupied Donetsk and the Russian resort city of Sochi, as suspected Ukrainian drone attacks targeted sites deep inside Russian-held territory.

“An air defence system is active in Sochi. An attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is being repelled,” Sochi Mayor Andrei Proshunin said.

In Donetsk, local channels reported that a Russian ammunition depot had been struck, setting off a series of explosions and large fires visible across the occupied city.

Videos circulating on social media appeared to show multiple blasts lighting up the night sky, Kyiv Independent reported.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on either incident.

Donald Trump appeared uncertain on Wednesday about supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, saying the US must also keep enough for its own defence – just hours before his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington.

“We need Tomahawks for the United States of America too. We have a lot of them, but we need them. I mean, we can’t deplete for our country,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“I don’t know what we can do about that,” he added.

Zelensky, who arrived in Washington earlier in the day, is expected to make a fresh push for the long-range missiles, which can strike targets up to 2,500 kilometres away.

Earlier, Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Moscow had warned Trump against arming Kyiv with the missiles.

“Vladimir Putin reiterated his point that Tomahawks would not change the situation on the battlefield but would cause significant harm to relations between our countries, not to mention the prospects for peaceful settlement,” Ushakov said, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Russia launched one of its biggest aerial attacks in months on Thursday, pounding Ukraine’s energy network just as president Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Washington to ask Donald Trump for long-range Tomahawk missiles.

More than 300 drones and 37 missiles rained down across Ukraine overnight, sparking blackouts in eight regions and fires at key gas facilities.

“This autumn, the Russians use every single day to strike at our energy infrastructure,” Zelensky said on X.

One of the main targets was the Shebelinka gas processing plant in Kharkiv region, where drones and missiles hit around 5.30am.

Huge columns of black smoke rose from the site as crews battled multiple fires.