President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to meet with his American counterpart Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest if invited. He said this at a meeting with journalists on 19 October.
This refers to his readiness for so-called shuttle diplomacy or a trilateral meeting. No invitation has been received yet.
“If I am invited to Budapest, if it is an invitation in a format where the three of us meet, or, as it is called, shuttle diplomacy – President Trump meets with Putin and President Trump meets with me – then in one format or another, we will agree,” he said.
Zelenskyy added that much depends on what kind of meeting Ukraine can be offered.
“If the configuration is with America in the middle, that’s one thing. But if the configuration is such that the pressure is only on Ukraine, no one will emerge victorious. We will not give victory to the Russians,” he assured.
In his opinion, Trump wants to meet with Putin because he wants to end the war quickly.
Zelenskyy believes that it would be better to choose a country other than Hungary for the meeting with Putin.
“We have said both publicly and privately that we are ready for a meeting in any format that works. Of course, I believe that the main thing is the result. I do not think that Budapest is the best venue for this meeting. Of course, if it can bring peace, then it doesn’t matter in which country the meeting takes place. But I must note that I devoted enough of my time to meeting with Mr Witkoff in Paris to make his idea about Hungary, let’s say, restrained. Because there were many different worthy options – Switzerland, Austria, the Vatican, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey. Because we are talking about peace in Ukraine, not elections in Hungary. I do not believe that a prime minister who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians or even anything balanced,” he explained.
- Trump had a telephone conversation with Putin the day before his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The initiative for the conversation came from Moscow. As a result, the American president announced a meeting with Putin in Budapest within a few weeks. Zelenskyy, according to him, will be able to stay in touch.
- One of the main topics that the Ukrainian president brought to Washington was a request to allow the sale of Tomahawk long-range missiles. In exchange, Ukraine is offering long-range drones. However, there is no result yet: after the talks, Zelenskyy said that the US should comment on this issue, but they do not want escalation.