KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated he would be prepared to join Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump at their planned Hungary summit if formally invited.
Trump and Putin recently announced they would meet in Budapest, possibly within weeks, as the American leader continues efforts to broker a peace deal ending 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,“ Zelensky told reporters.
The Ukrainian president criticised the choice of Hungary, which maintains tense relations with Kyiv and is viewed as the EU’s most Kremlin-sympathetic member.
“I do not believe that a prime minister who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians or even provide a balanced contribution,“ Zelensky said, referring to Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.
Kyiv has expressed willingness to join three-way meetings between Zelensky, Putin and Trump in several neutral countries including Turkey, Switzerland and the Vatican.
Moscow signed the 1994 Budapest Memorandum aimed at ensuring security for Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan in exchange for them surrendering numerous Soviet-era nuclear weapons.
“Another ‘Budapest’ scenario wouldn’t be positive either,“ Zelensky remarked.
Trump has pursued a rapid conclusion to the Ukraine conflict since returning to the White House this year, pushing for direct Ukraine-Russia talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, though these diplomatic efforts have yet to yield any breakthrough. – AFP
