Putin Faces a Risky Summit Sequel With Trump

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We’re about to find out whether Vladimir Putin has again successfully diverted his US counterpart from tough action against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Today’s White House meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy was supposed to be about the potential supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, an issue that unnerved the Kremlin.

Trump appeared to row back on that prospect after yesterday’s phone call with Putin.

Still, their agreement to hold another summit in about two weeks, this time in Hungary, carries risks for the Russian leader.

He scored a PR victory when Trump rolled out the red carpet for him in Alaska in August. But Putin offered nothing in return, leaving the impression the US president had been played.

With Trump basking in his success at achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, Putin can ill afford to leave him empty-handed again.

Yet the Kremlin readout of their more than two-hour conversation offered no sign of any shift in Putin’s demands for ending the war he started.

Budapest is an uncomfortable venue for European Union leaders. Hungary’s Viktor Orban has long been the bloc’s most Russia-friendly face and a thorn in their efforts to intensify support for Ukraine.

Now they’ll have to watch Orban welcoming Putin while Russia continues attacking Ukraine. It’s unclear whether Zelenskiy will even be invited for a three-way summit.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office in August, 2025. Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg — Zelenskiy and Trump in the Oval Office in August.

Putin will sit down with Trump in a NATO member state, though he claims Russia is effectively fighting the military alliance in Ukraine.

He may have an incentive to offer a deal that lets Trump claim he stopped the war, even if on terms unfavorable to Ukraine. Or the Russian president may play for time again.

Budapest presents a chance for Putin. But the stakes are high: A diplomatic failure might finally tilt Trump into supporting robust economic and military pressure to force Russia to the negotiating table.

The US president may tip his hand on that when he meets Zelenskiy today. — Anthony Halpin

WATCH: Anthony Halpin discusses Trump’s next meeting with Putin on Bloomberg TV.

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The likelihood of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party forming a new coalition with Ishin is 50-50, the leader of the smaller party said, as talks continue ahead of a parliamentary vote on who will lead the nation. If Ishin sides with the LDP, that would essentially ensure that Sanae Takaichi becomes Japan’s first female prime minister.

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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 29: Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, reacts with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer after delivering her key note speech on day two of the Labour Party conference at ACC Liverpool on September 29, 2025 in Liverpool, England. Labour Conference is being held against a vastly different backdrop to last year when the party had swept to power in a landslide general election victory. A year on and polling shows three quarters of Britons (74-77%) say they have little to no trust in the party on the cost of living, immigration, taxation, managing the economy, representing people like them, or keeping its promises. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images) Photographer: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images Europe — Reeves with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool last month.

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John Bolton, former US national security adviser, during Harvard Kennedy School's John F. Kennedy Jr. forum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. FBI agents last month searched the home of John Bolton, in a sign that the White House is stepping up a campaign of retribution against some of its fiercest critics. Photographer: Jason Bergman/Bloomberg — Bolton at a Harvard Kennedy School forum last month.

Don’t miss from Bloomberg Weekend: Daniel Ten Kate analyzes the latest developments in the US-China trade dispute, Mark Carney explains what he’s learned from Trump in the inaugural episode of The Mishal Husain Show, and Emi Tanimoto and Nicholas Takahashi look at the fragile future of Japan’s denim industry. Subscribe to the Bloomberg Weekend newsletter here.

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Chart of the Day

Nigeria is drawing hundreds of millions of dollars into new data centers, propelled by the voracious online habits of its young, tech-savvy population and a push to harness artificial intelligence to power the next wave of its digital boom. Global and regional operators are investing almost $1 billion in next-generation facilities designed to handle advanced computing workloads and serve the continent’s rapidly expanding online population.

And Finally

Miscarriages and birth defects are commonplace at the dilapidated Koch County hospital in South Sudan’s oil region. Locals blame the industry, whose towering smoke stacks and storage tanks loom in the distance — the only significant economic activity for thousands of miles. Congenital anomalies have devastated families who live near wells for almost two decades, according to our months-long investigation.

Nyachianya Duoth holds her son, Kai, in Mirmir village, Koch County, South Sudan. Kai, 5, was born with no eyes. Before her pregnancy, Nyachianya would collect water from a stream around 10 milesfrom Petronass facilities. Often, she said, thered be an oily, reddish scum on its surface. The water tasted salty. so she used sachets of chlorine and calcium hypochlorite in an attempt to purify it.After she gave bith to Kai, who had no eyes and lacked motor skills, she walked 50 miles from Koch to the regional capital Bentiu, where she arrived at a hospital run by the humanitarianorganization Medicines Sans Frontieres.The doctor told us this deformity had occurred because of where we live near to the oil companies." She returned home, but Kai struggled to feed and needed specialist medical care. SoDuoth reported her case to Koch Countys health director, who then sent a report to a manager at the SPOC facility. Soon after, Duoth said, a SPOC official visited Koch, where he promised to provide clean water and drill a new borehole. They also supplied drugs to the hospital. But, she said,nobody from the company visited me.Mirmir, Koch county, South Sudan on June 7, 2025. Photographer: Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi/Bloomberg — Nyachianya Duoth from Koch County holds her son, Kai, who was born without eyes.

Pop quiz (no cheating!). A senior cabinet member from which country lashed out at a Chinese government official this week, calling him unhinged? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net

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And Finally

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