U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday, October 17, that his upcoming peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be held as a bilateral meeting in Budapest, Hungary — without the physical presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, he assured that Zelensky would remain involved remotely.
The announcement follows a two-hour call between Trump and Putin, after which the U.S. President confirmed that the summit will take place in the coming weeks, although an exact date has yet to be finalized.
Explaining the decision to exclude Zelensky from the in-person summit, Trump cited ongoing tensions between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.
“It’s going to be a double meeting,” Trump said. “But we will have President Zelensky in touch. There’s a lot of bad blood between the two presidents, and I’m not speaking out of turn when I say it.”
Speaking from the White House, Trump described himself as the “mediator president” and emphasized the need to manage the dynamics between the two leaders carefully.
“Three presidents — and I’m the mediator. Not an easy situation,” he said. “It’s a lot easier when people understand and like each other. We don’t necessarily have that right now. Maybe that can change. But for now, it’s better to keep a little distance.”
Trump said he remains hopeful the dialogue will lead to progress in de-escalating the conflict, even if direct talks between Putin and Zelensky aren’t currently feasible.
