Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest? This could be a cold shower for Volodymyr Zelensky

US President Donald Trump announced the preparation of a second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin - this time in Budapest. This step caused alarm both in Kiev and among US allies in Europe, writes Bloomberg, quoted by Focus.

The first meeting between Trump and Putin, which took place in Alaska in August, did not lead to any breakthrough. However, the American president, who once promised to "solve the war in one day", once again took up mediation – despite warnings from analysts that this could only strengthen the Kremlin's position.

After a two-hour phone call with Putin, Trump said he was ready to “seek a real path to peace“, but declined to comment on the possibility of providing Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles or imposing new sanctions on Russia.

“We need Tomahawks for the United States of America as well. So I don't know what we can do about it“, he told reporters in the Oval Office.

At the same time, the Kremlin said Putin had warned Trump that any provision of missiles to Ukraine “would cause serious damage to relations between our countries“.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is planning a meeting with Trump this week. Kiev hopes that the US leader's growing frustration with Putin's behavior will prompt the White House to increase pressure on Moscow - in particular through arms sales and energy sanctions.

However, analysts warn that Trump is likely to choose the “carrot“ rather than the stick“. He stressed that he discussed with Putin the possibilities of post-war trade.

Historian Sergei Radchenko of the “Johns Hopkins” School of Advanced International Studies” believes that a second meeting without pressure could turn out to be “almost reckless“ step:

“I see a lot of efforts for dialogue. But I still don't see maximum pressure.

According to Maria Snegova, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Putin is actually buying time:

"He is postponing the delivery of critical weapons to Ukraine and the imposition of energy sanctions that Trump promised".

The upcoming summit in Budapest is already causing concern in Europe. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who maintains close ties with the Kremlin and opposes EU sanctions, called the upcoming meeting "a peace summit between the United States and Russia", saying that "Hungary is an island of peace".

Trump, who has long considered Orban an ally of the MAGA movement, may view Budapest as "friendly territory" for talks with Putin. But for the West, it is a wake-up call: the summit in the capital of the country that blocked support for Ukraine looks like a concession to Moscow.