US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone on October 16

U.S. President Donald Trump said he held a “very productive” phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which the two leaders discussed potential bilateral economic cooperation to pursue after a resolution to the war in Ukraine.

According to Trump, the two agreed to hold a high-level advisor meeting between October 19 and 25 at an undisclosed location, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the American delegation. The president added that he and Putin plan to meet in Budapest afterward to discuss a possible framework for ending the war.

Trump said he intends to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the details of his October 16 call with Putin during Zelensky’s visit to Washington on October 17. Speaking to reporters the same day, Trump said he expects to meet Putin “in two weeks or so,” and that Secretary Rubio would meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “pretty soon.”

Trump also hinted that he, Zelensky, and Putin might coordinate “separate but equal” meetings as part of the peace process. He added that Putin “really did not like the idea” of the U.S. sending “a couple thousand Tomahawks” to Ukraine when Trump raised the issue during their call.

Almost 90% of Ukrainians believe the government should be criticized even during war - poll

Nearly 90% of Ukrainians believe it is acceptable to criticize the government even during wartime, according to a new survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published on October 17.

Of those polled, 58% said criticism should be constructive and balanced so as not to destabilize the country, while 32% supported harsh, uncompromising criticism. Only 8% said criticism should not be allowed during the war.

KIIS noted that while support for harsh criticism has remained consistent, the share of Ukrainians opposing any criticism of the authorities has decreased since last year.

The poll — conducted between September 19 and October 5 — comes amid ongoing debate about accountability in Ukraine, following backlash over President Volodymyr Zelensky’s team attempting to reduce the independence of key anti-corruption institutions. That move sparked the first street protests since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

According to the same survey, 56% of respondents believe the government is making genuine efforts to fight corruption, while 40% view Ukraine as “hopelessly corrupt.”

Among those who see Ukraine as “hopelessly corrupt,” 45% favor harsh criticism of the authorities, while 54% support either constructive criticism or none at all, KIIS reported.

KIIS Executive Director Anton Hrushetskyi warned that the “hopelessly corrupt” narrative poses a risk to Ukraine’s stability.
“This narrative seriously undermines national security,” Hrushetskyi said. “It’s associated with a greater willingness among Ukrainians to accept even the most difficult compromises to end the war.”

The poll surveyed 1,008 adults from across government-controlled areas of Ukraine.

Putin's visit to Budapest will put the EU and NATO in an "awkward" position

A planned visit by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Hungary, a member of both NATO and the European Union, is expected to put Ukraine’s allies in an uncomfortable position.

The decision to hold the meeting in a country belonging to Western alliances that have been leading international efforts to support Ukraine and isolate Russia has surprised diplomats and analysts almost as much as the summit itself.

Budapest carries symbolic weight: it was there in 1994 that the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia signed the Budapest Memorandum, under which Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances. The signatories pledged to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity — a promise Russia shattered with its full-scale invasion in 2022.

“It is awkward for both the EU and NATO. Timing is everything: the Tomahawk threat is growing and all of a sudden Putin wants to meet. But if [U.S. President Donald] Trump can pull something off, he should do it,” said a senior European official.

Putin remains wanted by the International Criminal Court for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. While Hungary has announced plans to withdraw from the ICC, the process is not yet finalized, meaning that legally, Hungarian authorities would be obligated to arrest him upon arrival. Still, as one senior EU diplomat told Reuters, “nobody will be surprised if the Hungarians don’t arrest Putin.”

Botond Feledy, a geopolitical analyst at Red Snow Consulting, said that choosing Budapest as the venue allows Putin to “hit several birds with one stone.”

“On one hand, he will be holding talks on the Ukraine war in an EU country without EU leaders attending,” Feledy said. “For Putin, this is a much stronger symbolic blow to Europe than if the meeting were held in Türkiye or elsewhere.”

He also noted that the Budapest summit will once again exclude Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, a move likely to strain relations between Budapest and Kyiv further.

European officials believe Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will use his role as host to boost his image as a mediator ahead of next year’s national elections, where his Fidesz party trails behind the center-right Tisza party.

“The Hungarian side will definitely try to present its role as an important one, bridging the gap between the two significantly different sides,” said Marcin Przydacz, a foreign policy adviser to the Polish president.

Analysts say that domestic issues will ultimately shape the election outcome, but the summit could bolster Orbán’s argument that maintaining dialogue with Russia is essential for achieving peace.

“If there is an agreement, that will legitimize his narrative about peace retrospectively,” said Zoltán Novák, an analyst at the Centre for Fair Political Analysis.

Hungary promised to welcome Putin with respect, despite the ICC arrest warrant

Hungary has confirmed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not face arrest under the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant when he visits Budapest for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó made the comments during a conversation with journalists.

Szijjártó said that the date and specific details of the Trump-Putin meeting will be announced after preparatory talks between officials from the United States, Russia, and Ukraine are completed.

“Of course, here in Hungary, in Budapest, we are ready to provide the necessary conditions for the American and Russian presidents to hold talks in a safe and peaceful environment. This is the safest country in Europe, one of the safest countries in the world, so if there is a place where talks can be held safely, it is here,” Szijjártó said.

He also made it clear that Putin would be able to enter and leave Hungary freely.

“We respectfully await President Putin, of course. We will ensure that he can enter Hungary, hold successful talks here, and then return home. No agreements with anyone are needed,” the minister stated.

“We are a sovereign country. We will respectfully welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin, receive him as a guest, and provide conditions for his negotiations with the American president,” he added.

Hungary remains a signatory to the ICC’s founding Rome Statute, meaning that—technically—it is still obligated to arrest individuals wanted by the court. However, Budapest has announced plans to withdraw from the ICC, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has repeatedly positioned itself as maintaining “balanced relations” with Moscow despite Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.