President Trump will speak Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a White House official confirmed to The Hill, one day before Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The phone call will come as Trump is expected to turn his focus to ending the war in Ukraine after helping to broker a peace agreement in the Middle East. Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The president has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin in recent weeks following their meeting in Alaska in August. That meeting yielded no concrete progress toward ending the war, and a proposed meeting between Putin and Zelensky has yet to materialize.
Trump on Tuesday criticized Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine, saying it was making Russia look bad.
“I don’t know why he continues with this war,” Trump said of Putin. “He should have won that war in one week.”
“He just doesn’t want to end that war. And I think it’s making him look very bad,” Trump added. “I have to tell you, I give credit because who would think that Ukraine could have fought Russia for four years to essentially a standstill.”
Zelensky will visit the White House on Friday to meet with Trump. Zelensky said he would also meet with defense companies, energy companies and members of Congress while in Washington.
“This is necessary – it was President Trump’s proposal – and I will meet with these companies because there are pressing needs linked to various formats of attacks, not even the attacks that Russia has already carried out. In any case, we must be prepared,” Zelensky posted on X.
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