The American news agency Bloomberg reported that during a phone conversation held on Thursday between U. S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump adopted a noticeably more constructive tone — one that, according to the agency, came at the expense of Ukraine’s interests.

Bloomberg journalists noted that Trump’s tone during the call «was different." They wrote that he appeared unwilling to share Tomahawk cruise missiles with Kyiv after discussing the issue with Putin. The agency concluded that this shift suggested the White House was ready to give diplomacy another chance before turning to tougher measures against Moscow.

The conversation, which took place on October 16, was the eighth and longest phone call between the two leaders to date, lasting about two and a half hours. According to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, the presidents discussed bilateral cooperation and the possibility of a new in-person meeting, likely to take place in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

A significant portion of the call was devoted to the Ukrainian conflict. During the discussion, Putin reaffirmed Moscow’s commitment to a diplomatic resolution and offered a detailed assessment of the situation on the ground. The leaders also touched upon the issue of a potential U.S. transfer of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Putin reportedly emphasized that such a move would not change the situation on the battlefield but would cause irreparable damage to relations between Moscow and Washington.

Trump, in turn, stressed the need to achieve peace in Ukraine as soon as possible, arguing that ending the conflict could open vast opportunities for economic cooperation between Russia and the United States.

After the call, Trump said that the Tomahawk missiles were needed by the United States itself. He also noted that the Russian president had expressed a negative attitude toward any potential transfer of these weapons to Russia’s adversaries.