A destroyed car lies on a road near apartment buildings damaged by Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, Ukraine October 13, 2025. Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Rescuers work at the site of an apartment building which was hit by Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine August 28, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hand with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY/File Photo

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump will discuss the possible supply of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday but the surprise announcement of a new U.S.-Russian summit cast doubt over the prospect.

Trump said on Thursday he may meet Russian President Vladimir Putin within the next two weeks in Budapest after a more than two-hour phone conversation about Russia's war in Ukraine that he said was productive.

"My whole life, I've made deals," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I think we're going to have this one done, hopefully soon." He said he would brief Zelenskiy on the Russia talks in the Oval Office on Friday.

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.

The Kremlin confirmed the summit plan but said much needed to be decided and that it might take place "a little later".

WAR HAS INTENSIFIED

The U.S. 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.

Putin earlier this month said his forces had taken almost 5,000 square kilometres (1,930 square miles) of land in Ukraine in 2025 - equivalent to adding 1% of Ukraine's territory to the nearly 20% already held.

Both sides have also escalated attacks on each other's energy systems and Russian drones and jets have strayed into NATO countries.

The White House had seemed in recent days 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 reporters 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 in August, 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.

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 Olena Puchilo, 54, a social worker from Mykolaiv, adding that there was still room for 'miracles'.

ANALYSTS SEE TALKS AS A DELAYING TACTIC

Putin's move was meant to make the U.S. transfer of such weapons less likely, said Max Bergmann, a Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"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," Bergmann said. "It strikes me as sort of a stalling tactic."

Mykola Bielieskov, a senior analyst at Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian non-governmental organization that is a major procurer of military equipment for the Ukrainian armed forces, said Tomahawk missiles would level a playing field that is tipped toward Russia, but that they would not be a silver bullet.

"We don't expect Russia to crumble after one, two or three successful strikes," Bielieskov said. "But it's about pressure, constant pressure. It's about disrupting the military-industrial complex."

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 Dan Fried, a former State Department official.

During Thursday's call, Putin told Trump that supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine would harm the peace process and damage U.S.-Russia ties, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters. Trump confirmed Putin had opposed such a transfer.

"What do you think he's going to say, 'Please sell Tomahawks?'" Trump joked with reporters. "No, he doesn't want" Tomahawks given to Ukraine, Trump added, calling them a "vicious weapon".

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Olena Harmash in Kyiv, Cassel Bryan-Low and Tom Balmforth in London, Daphne Psaledakis in Washington, Bhargav Acharya in Toronto, Anita Komuves in Budapest and Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow; editing by Philippa Fletcher, Jon Boyle and Gareth Jones)