President Donald Trump is speaking with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday as he considers Ukraine’s push for long-range missiles. Trump said in a Truth Social post late Thursday morning that he was engaged in a lengthy phone call with Putin and would provide an update on what they discussed as soon as it was over.
The call comes ahead of Trump’s meeting on Friday at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been pressing Trump to sell Kyiv Tomahawk missiles that would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian territory. Zelenskyy has argued such strikes would help compel Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the war more seriously.
Trump said Sunday: “Do they want to have Tomahawks going in that direction? I don’t think so,” Trump said on Sunday. “I think I might speak to Russia about that.”