Summary
- Zelensky expressed willingness to join Trump-Putin talks in Budapest if invited.
- He described his White House meeting with Trump as “frank” but contentious.
- Trump urged Zelensky to accept Russia’s demands to avoid further destruction.
Following their phone conversation on Thursday, the presidents of the US and Russia declared that they will meet in Budapest to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, potentially within the next few weeks.
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".
According to media accounts, his Friday meeting with Trump at the White House turned into a" crying match" in which the US side pushed Ukraine to agree to Russia's demands in order to stop the conflict.
Indeed though Zelensky was diplomatic during his first press conference since the accommodations, it was apparent from his reflections that there were significant points of contention between the two parties.
He claimed he had told Trump that his primary goal was just peace, not a speedy one, and characterized the encounter as candid.
According to him, Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, who is viewed by Kyiv and many EU leaders as a friend of the Kremlin, is incapable of doing "anything positive for Ukrainians or even providing a balanced contribution" when it comes to the potential Trump-Putin meetings.
Trump stated that he wanted to "make it comfortable for everybody" when questioning reporters on Friday about Zelensky's participation in the meeting in Budapest.
Moscow said Monday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a "constructive" phone conversation over the summit in Budapest.
During his visit to the White House, Zelensky had intended to get US Tomahawk missiles to launch attacks deep into Russia.
According to media accounts, the Trump-Zelensky encounter had a much more heated mood than was previously thought.
According to sources involved with the discussion, the Financial Times claimed that Trump had threatened Zelensky that if he did not accept its terms, Putin would "destroy" Ukraine.
At the "volatile" meeting, the US side reportedly repeated Russian talking points. Additionally, it stated that Trump demanded Zelensky hand up the whole eastern Donbas region to Putin and threw out charts of the Ukrainian battle line.
Shortly after the meeting, Trump stated on social media that Russia and Ukraine "should stop where they are" that is, at the present, expansive front line.
"Let both claim Victory, let History decide!"
he said.
In response, Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine" will not gift anything to the raider" but stated that he was prepared for an immediate ceasefire.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's prophet, stated Monday that Russia's station on the proposed freezing of the frontal line was" unchanged" but did n't give any other information.
In addition to a number of other harsh demands, Moscow has constantly called for the full departure of Ukrainian forces from the country's four southeast regions Donetsk, Luhansk( inclusively known as Donbas), Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
The demands, according to Kyiv and its allies, amount to a de facto rendition.
Russia launched its full- scale irruption of Ukraine in February 2022. It presently controls about 20% of Ukrainian homes, including the southern Crimea peninsula Moscow adjoined in 2014, as well as most- but not each- of the Donbas.
"We really didn't get what we wanted,"
Ukrainian political analyst Mykola Davyduik said of the latest Trump-Zelensky meeting.
"A few days after, we received some insights from the meeting and some threats and pressure that the Ukrainian side received there,"
he told the BBC.
But he added:
"I don't think that Trump is fully and completely on Putin's side, and he is trying to play mediator... and that is his kind of style and how he behaves in such a situation."
In an effort to put more economic pressure on Moscow to halt the war, the US president has been urging China, India, and other NATO countries to cease buying Russian oil.
Additionally, although he never followed through on his threats, Obama had previously threatened Russia with harsher penalties if Putin failed to fulfill deadlines to advance the conclusion of the war.
After Trump and Vice-President JD Vance criticized the Ukrainian president live on television during an Oval Office meeting in February, Trump's relationship with Zelensky had also significantly improved in recent months.
Trump asserted throughout his reelection campaign that he could put an end to the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of days.
What specific conditions has Ukraine set for joining a Trump-Putin summit?
Ukraine, under President Volodymyr Zelensky, has set specific conditions for joining an implicit Trump- Putin peak to discuss ending the war. First, Ukraine insists it must be formally invited to share in any concession involving its home and sovereignty.
Zelensky emphasized that any peace addresses must include Ukraine's direct involvement and consent to be legitimate. He expressed willingness to attend if invited to a format involving all three leaders or through shuttle diplomacy where Trump meets independently with both Putin and Zelensky.
Secondly, Zelensky blamed Budapest, Hungary, as the proposed venue due to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's pro-Russian station and inimical position toward Kyiv, suggesting it isn't a neutral or balanced position for accommodations.