(MENAFN) Reports indicate that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was reportedly “surprised” upon arriving in Washington to learn that US President Donald Trump had already conducted a substantive phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The discussion, lasting two hours and 30 minutes and reportedly suggested by Moscow, included an agreement for Trump and Putin to meet in Hungary in the coming weeks. The call and the choice of Hungary as the proposed meeting location—described as “the least Ukraine-friendly country in the European Union”—allegedly took Zelensky’s team by surprise.

Trump described the conversation as “very productive,” while Russian foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov called it “very substantive and at the same time extremely frank.” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a vocal critic of Western policy toward the Ukraine conflict and of Zelensky’s use of what he labeled “moral blackmail” to secure military aid, also welcomed the talks.

Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Trump on Friday to press his request for Tomahawk cruise missiles, which would give Ukraine the ability to strike Moscow—a move Russia has warned would constitute a major escalation of the conflict.

Media coverage has generally interpreted Trump’s renewed diplomatic engagement with Putin as a signal that the Tomahawk missiles are unlikely to be approved. Trump acknowledged that Putin “didn’t like the idea” of Ukraine obtaining these nuclear-capable weapons.

Moscow has consistently maintained that it will not bow to external pressure and intends to achieve its objectives in the Ukraine conflict through diplomatic or military means.

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