Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he is willing to join Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump at their summit in Hungary, if invited.
Trump and Putin said they would meet in the Hungarian capital, possibly in a matter of weeks, as the U.S. leader continues to try to broker a peace deal to end the three-and-a-half-year war, triggered by Russia's 2022 invasion.
"If I am invited to Budapest – if it is an invitation in a format where we meet as three or, as it's called, shuttle diplomacy, President Trump meets with Putin and President Trump meets with me – then in one format or another, we will agree," Zelenskyy told reporters in remarks released Monday.
The Ukrainian president criticized the choice of Hungary, which has a terse relationship with Kyiv and is seen as the most Kremlin-sympathetic member of the European Union.
"I do not believe that a prime minister who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians or even provide a balanced contribution," Zelenskyy said, referring to Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.
Kyiv has said it is ready to join a three-way meeting between Zelenskyy, Putin and Trump in a number of neutral countries, including Türkiye, Switzerland and the Vatican.
In 1994, Moscow signed a memorandum in Budapest aimed at ensuring security for Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan in exchange for them giving up numerous nuclear weapons left from the Soviet era.
"Another 'Budapest' scenario wouldn't be positive either," Zelenskyy said.
Trump has been aiming for a speedy end to the years-long conflict in Ukraine since he returned to White House earlier this year, pushing for a series of direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials and hosting Putin for a summit in Alaska – diplomatic efforts that have ultimately not lead to any breakthrough.
