London: A phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has cleared the way for a high-stakes meeting between the two men in Hungary to try to end the war in Ukraine in the wake of the ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump said the peace deal in the Middle East would help the negotiations over Ukraine and revealed he would send Secretary of State Marco Rubio to a meeting with Russian officials next week to prepare for the leadership summit with Putin.

President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska in August. Credit: AP

The declaration came ahead of a visit to the White House by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a pivotal US decision on whether to sell Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine so it can strike targets deep inside

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