Ofure Akhigbe
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he would be ready to join Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at a proposed summit in Hungary if invited.
The US and Russian presidents announced on Thursday that they planned to hold talks on the war in Ukraine in Budapest, possibly in the coming weeks.
In comments released on Monday, Zelensky told reporters: “If it is an invitation in a format where we meet as three or, as it’s called, shuttle diplomacy… then in one format or another, we will agree.”
Media reports, however, suggested his Friday meeting with Trump at the White House was tense, with the US side allegedly urging Ukraine to accept Russia’s terms to end the war.
Zelensky, guarded in his first press briefing since the talks, described the meeting as frank, saying he had told Trump that his goal was a just peace, not a quick peace.
He also criticised Hungary as the proposed venue for the Trump–Putin summit, saying Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could not do “anything positive for Ukrainians or even provide a balanced contribution.”
When asked on Friday whether Zelensky would join the Budapest meeting, Trump said he wanted to “make it comfortable for everybody,” adding that “we’ll be involved in threes, but it may be separated.”
Zelensky had reportedly sought US Tomahawk missiles to strike deep into Russia but appeared to leave Washington empty-handed, as Trump struck a non-committal tone.
According to the Financial Times, Trump warned Zelensky that Putin would “destroy” Ukraine if he did not accept Moscow’s terms, citing sources familiar with the exchange. The US delegation was said to have echoed Russian talking points at the “volatile” meeting, with Trump allegedly dismissing frontline maps and insisting that Zelensky surrender the entire Donbas region.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump’s stance on the conflict has shifted in recent months. Just last month, he said Kyiv could “win all of Ukraine back in its original form,” reversing his earlier suggestion that peace might require Ukraine to cede territory.
During his re-election campaign, Trump claimed he could end the war “within days,” but has since admitted that resolving the conflict has been more challenging than any issue he has faced since returning to office.