Trump speaks with Putin ahead of meeting with Zelenskyy

On October 16, US president Donald Trump and the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will hold a telephone conversation to discuss Russia's war against Ukraine. This was reported by American media outlet Axios, citing a source with knowledge of the matter. Subsequently, the head of the United States himself wrote about the call.

So far, the White House has not responded to a media request for comment on this information.

If the Axios report is true, the conversation between Trump and Putin will take place the day before the US president meets with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

UPDATE at 6:21 p.m. "I am speaking to president Putin now. The conversation is ongoing, a lengthy one, and I will report the contents, as will President Putin, at its conclusion," the US president wrote on his social network Truth Social.

Earlier, on October 14, Trump announced that during the meeting he would discuss with Zelenskyy, in particular, the transfer of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.

The Kremlin has repeatedly spoken out against the United States transferring such weapons to the Ukrainian side. In particular, Putin himself has argued that the use of the Tomahawk is allegedly impossible without the participation of the US military, and that this would lead to a "qualitatively new stage of escalation" between Moscow and Washington.

Instead, the president of Ukraine noted, that the Russian Federation is afraid of the transfer of these missiles – and this shows that such pressure can help end the war.

• On October 15, Trump said that Ukraine would like to go on the offensive.
• The Telegraph newspaper said that the US leader is working on creating a so-called Ukraine Victory Fund, which will be financed by new tariffs against China.