Zelenskyy Tells Trump He Is Ready to Meet Putin in Budapest
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told U.S. President Donald Trump that he is prepared to attend a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest.
The Gaze reports this, referring to Zelenskyy’s interview with NBC News.
The Ukrainian president confirmed that he discussed the possibility during his meeting with Trump on Friday, adding that he is ready to join the planned leaders’ summit in the Hungarian capital.
“If we really want to have just and lasting peace, we need both sides of this tragedy,” he said. “How can there be some deals without us about us?”
The Ukrainian leader called Putin a terrorist, warning that Moscow must face greater pressure than militant groups such as Hamas, with which Trump recently brokered a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Zelenskyy ruled out any territorial concessions, insisting that peace talks must not come at the expense of Ukraine’s sovereignty or current front-line positions.
“If we want to stop this war and to go to peace negotiations urgently and in a diplomatic way, we need to stay where we stay, not to give something additional to Putin,” he claimed. The Ukrainian president added that negotiations must be held “quietly, not under missiles and drones.”
Zelenskyy also expressed confidence in Ukraine’s resilience, stating that “We are not losing this war, and Putin is not winning.”
He said Russia’s intensification of air strikes reflects its “weak position on the battlefield.” When asked whether he believes Trump can end the war, Zelenskyy replied: “God bless, yes.”
The comments come days after Trump confirmed he had spoken with Putin for the first time in nearly two months. The U.S. president announced plans for a meeting in Budapest, which would mark Putin’s first visit to an EU member state since the start of the full-scale invasion, requiring overflight permissions from other EU countries.
As The Gaze reported earlier, on October 17, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.