WASHINGTON, Oct 17 — Volodymyr Zelenskiy will ask Donald Trump for Tomahawk missiles on Friday, but the surprise announcement that the United States (US) President will meet with Vladimir Putin in Budapest appeared to dim the Ukrainian President's chance of securing the long-range weapons.
Trump announced the summit after a more than two-hour phone conversation with Putin about Russia's war in Ukraine on Thursday, which he said was productive.
It was unclear what Putin had told Trump that prompted him to agree to the meeting, as their August summit in Alaska ended early with no major breakthrough.
"My whole life, I have made deals. I think we are going to have this one done, hopefully soon," Trump told the press at the White House.
The Kremlin said much needed to be decided and that the summit might take place "a little later" than within the two weeks mentioned by Trump.
Friday's meeting with Zelenskiy was scheduled to be a relatively low-key lunch in a cabinet meeting room rather than a public gathering in the Oval Office.
Trump's conciliatory tone after the call with Putin raised questions over the near-term likelihood of assistance to Ukraine and reignited European fears of a deal that suits Moscow. A spokesperson for the European Union said it welcomed the talks if they could help bring peace to Ukraine.
War has intensified
The US President, who has campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, is eager to add to the list of conflicts he says he has been instrumental in ending.
More than three and a half years after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has ground out some territorial gains this year, but Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Thursday that the Russian offensive had failed.
Earlier this month, Putin said his forces had taken almost 5,000 square kilometres of land in Ukraine in 2025, equivalent to adding one per cent of Ukraine's territory to the nearly 20 per cent already held.
Both sides have also escalated attacks on each other's energy systems, and Russian drones and jets have strayed into Nato countries.
In recent days, the White House had seemed to be increasingly frustrated with Putin and leaning toward granting Zelenskiy fresh support, including the Tomahawk missiles that Ukrainians say would help them inflict more damage to Russia's war machine.
"We need them, too," Trump said of the missiles on Thursday in his remarks to the press after his call with Putin.
Zelenskiy, who has had an up-and-down relationship with Trump, said Putin, who pressed ahead with assaults on Ukraine after meeting with Trump in Alaska, was again playing for time.
"We can already see that Moscow is rushing to resume dialogue as soon as it hears about Tomahawks," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). But Ukrainians held out little hope for Zelenskiy's talks with Trump.
"We have already gone through this, and we have not seen any tangible results," said Mykolaiv social worker Olena Puchilo, 54, adding that there was still room for miracles.
Analysts see talks as a delaying tactic
Centre for Strategic and International Studies Russia expert Max Bergmann said that Putin's move was meant to make the US transfer of such weapons less likely.
"It does seem that Putin's outreach is perhaps designed to thwart the potential transfer of Tomahawks to Ukraine, so Putin is wanting to put that back in the box.
"It strikes me as sort of a stalling tactic," he said.
Ukrainian non-governmental group Come Back Alive's senior analyst Mykola Bielieskov, whose organisation is a major procurer of military equipment for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said Tomahawk missiles would level a playing field tilted toward Russia, but would not be a silver bullet.
"We do not expect Russia to crumble after one, two or three successful strikes. But it is about pressure, constant pressure.
"It is about disrupting the military-industrial complex," he said.
Since taking office in January, Trump has regularly threatened action against Russia, only to delay those steps after talks with Putin.
"The chances of moving toward a ceasefire by pushing Russia to get serious seem to have diminished," said former State Department official Dan Fried.
During Thursday's call, Putin told Trump that supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine would harm the peace process and damage US-Russia ties, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told the press. Trump confirmed Putin had opposed such a transfer.
"What do you think he is going to say, 'Please sell Tomahawks?'" Trump joked with reporters.
"No, he does not want Tomahawks given to Ukraine", Trump added, calling them a "vicious weapon".
