Upon landing, he told reporters that Ukraine and Russia should “stop at the battle line right now.”
Trump said the United States must be careful not to “deplete” its own stock of Tomahawks, which have a range of more than 1,000 miles. Source: Getty / US Navy
“Get along the battle line wherever it is, otherwise it will be too complicated,” he added.
He told reporters that while he and Trump talked about long-range weapons, they “decided that we weren’t going to talk about it because … the United States doesn’t want an escalation.”
‘Make the war over’
Trump appears much more optimistic about the prospects for a deal since his two-and-a-half-hour phone call with Putin on Thursday, in which they agreed to meet in Budapest.
Drones for Tomahawks?
“I hope President Trump can get it done,” he said.
‘Many questions’
The Kremlin said on Friday that “many questions” had to be resolved before Putin and Trump could meet, including who would be on each negotiating team.
A meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska in August failed to produce a breakthrough. Source: EPA / Gavrill Grigorov
But it refuted suggestions that Putin would have difficulty flying over European airspace.
Hungary said it would ensure Putin could enter the US and “hold successful talks” despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for him for alleged war crimes.
Trump frustrations
Initially, Trump and Putin reached out when the US leader ridiculed Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections.”
The US leader has repeatedly changed his position on sanctions and other steps against Russia after phone calls with the Russian president.
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