2025 Russia–United States summit in Hungary
The 2025 Budapest summit was a proposed summit between United States president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin to take place in Budapest, Hungary. Trump had announced on October 16, 2025, that it would be held within two weeks, with the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war as the main topic of discussion. He announced on October 22 that he had cancelled the meeting over Russia's refusal to back down from its maximalist claims on Ukraine.
On November 7, while he was hosting the Hungarian prime-minister Viktor Orban in the White House, Trump said that a summit in Budapest could still take place. Later, Orban said the summit was still on the agenda, that the meeting had been postponed, but not cancelled. On November 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia was ready to discuss with the United States preparations for the summit "if and when the American colleagues return to their proposal."
Background
During Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, he promised to end the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present) on his first day in office.In March he said that he was being sarcastic when he made the promise. A meeting between Putin and Trump billed as the 2025 Alaska Summit ended without an agreement.
History
On October 16, 2025, Trump, after a phone call from Putin that lasted more than two hours, announced that another summit would take place in Budapest, Hungary, within "two weeks or so". On October 17, Trump indicated interest in meeting President Volodimir Zelenskyy of Ukraine in a separate meeting at the summit so that Zelensky and Putin would not meet. On October 18, two senior officials familiar with the October 16 phone call said that Putin told Trump he would be willing to exchange Zaporizhzhia and Kherson for Donetsk.On October 20, the Ministry of [Foreign Affairs (Russia)|Russian Foreign Ministry] said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a "constructive" call that day preparing for the summit. However, on October 22, Trump told reporters that the meeting had been cancelled because negotiations had stalled. Trump proposed a ceasefire supported by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the current front line, while Russia pressed for its maximalist claims on Ukraine, including the refusal to freeze the fight along the current front line, demanding the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas and the demilitarisation of Ukraine.
On November 7, while he was hosting the Hungarian prime-minister Viktor Orban in the White House, Trump said that a summit in Budapest could still take place. Later, Orban said in an interview that a large-scale peace summit in Budapest was still on the agenda, and that the meeting had been postponed, but not cancelled.
On November 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia was ready to discuss with the United States preparations for the summit "if and when the American colleagues return to their proposal." He also said that Budapest would be a preferable location for the meeting between Trump and Putin.