Putin-Trump call Zelensky before the White House meeting

News of a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in which they agreed to meet in person to discuss the war in Ukraine will come as an unwelcome surprise to Kiev.

The country is badly affected.

In the last 24 hours alone, Russia has fired dozens of missiles and more than 300 drones at multiple targets.

Once again, they involve a large amount of civil infrastructure with further damage to the country’s gas supply network, just as the first signs of cold herald a long, hard winter.

Attacks on the power grid are already causing blackouts across the country.

For the government of Ukraine, this is a sign of Russian desperation.

The fronts are in a stalemate involving huge loss of life for increasing territorial gains.

And the Russian economy is feeling the effects of the Ukrainian army’s increasingly effective drone strikes on oil depots.

So President Volodymyr Zelensky’s big hope was for more American military aid to keep up that pressure.

Before he boarded his plane to Washington, he seemed to believe that things were going well.

There was optimistic talk that Trump was beginning to see the world through Ukraine’s eyes, a big change from that angry, demeaning exchange in the Oval Office in February, when he accused Zelensky of “betting on World War III.”

The failure of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska in August and the escalating bombing of Ukraine were believed to have caused the US president to lose patience with his “good friend”, as he called Putin.

There were high hopes that Friday’s meeting would finally yield the prize Ukraine was seeking – Trump’s authorization to buy long-range Tomahawk missiles.

Trump’s frustration with Putin was evident on Sunday when he told reporters: “Do they (Russia) want the Tomahawks going their way? I don’t think so.”

But how much the missiles will really change the rules of the game is the subject of much debate among military experts, and with complex logistics it could be months before they are deployed.

But at the very least, they would increase Ukraine’s ability to strike deep into the heart of Russia, and with a far more powerful weapon than any it currently possesses.

They would also send a powerful physical message to Putin about America’s shifting allegiances.

So the two-hour phone call between Trump and Putin, which took place while Zelensky was on a flight, somewhat steals the march on the Ukrainian president’s big moment.

For now, however, he is putting on something of a brave face, hinting in a post sent upon his arrival in Washington that Russia is in a panic.

The Kremlin is “in a hurry to resume dialogue,” he said, precisely because of all the talk about the Tomahawks.

Other analysts will see less panic and more classic Putin play in the phone call, which the Kremlin says took place at Russia’s behest.

The issue of the Tomahawks was indeed discussed, with Putin reinforcing his view that their deployment would be seen as a significant act of provocation.

The two men apparently discussed the “colossal prospects” – in Russia’s words – for trade if peace is achieved.

And then they agreed at their summit in Hungary. That will probably happen in the next two weeks, Trump said.

As Ukraine faces its fourth winter of war, few here have put much faith in Trump’s claim that he can turn his “success” in the Middle East into momentum for peace in Ukraine.

One woman the BBC spoke to, badly injured in a Russian strike on a civilian railway carriage, shrugged when asked if she saw an easy way out.

“A man like Putin cannot be trusted,” she said from her hospital bed.

After landing in Washington on Thursday night, Zelensky met with representatives of defense companies that make the powerful weapons he says he needs to bolster Ukraine’s defenses.

He will still ask for the Tomahawks from the White House.

But Trump’s willingness to give them has always been in doubt and must surely be further questioned.

Meanwhile, Russia is being given something.

A familiar pattern is developing. Whenever Trump grows increasingly frustrated with Putin’s intransigence on Ukraine, he is soothed by a conversation with the Russian president.

Each time they speak, he seems convinced of Putin’s point of view and backs down on his threats to impose tougher sanctions or deliver more destructive weapons.

The Hungarian summit, offered without concessions, does not appear to be a waste of American patience.

Never mind the tomahawks.

For now, Ukraine has instead been given a long-distance curve.