Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kiev expects a “strong reaction” from Washington if his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin does not show readiness for a bilateral meeting, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The US president is trying to mediate peace between the two warring countries, but acknowledged that Putin may not want to make a deal with Ukraine.
“I responded immediately to the offer for a bilateral meeting, we are ready. But what if the Russians are not ready?“, Zelensky said during yesterday's press conference.
“If the Russians are not ready, we would like to see a strong reaction from the United States“, he added.
Despite active diplomacy between Trump and the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, the path to peace remains uncertain as Washington and its allies discuss Ukraine's security guarantees.
Zelensky said it was unclear what territorial concessions Moscow would be willing to make to end the war. Trump has previously noted that both Kiev and Moscow will have to make compromises.
“In order to discuss what Ukraine is ready to do, we must first hear what Russia is ready to do,“ Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president added that a meeting with Putin would be possible after the country's security guarantee framework is clarified with Western partners. He mentioned Switzerland, Austria and Turkey as potential hosts for the talks.
“We want to reach an understanding on the architecture of security guarantees within a period of seven to ten days. Based on this understanding, we are planning a trilateral meeting with the participation of US President Donald Trump,“ Zelensky added.
“We believe it is right to hold the meeting in a neutral place in Europe,“ he stressed.
Regarding Budapest, Zelensky said that this would be “challenging” given Hungary's attitude towards Ukrainian support since the beginning of the war. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has already twice offered his country to host talks between Kiev and Moscow.
Zelensky also noted that China cannot be a guarantor of Ukraine's security due to its proximity to Russia, and asked Trump to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán not to block the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. “President Trump promised his team would work on this issue“, he specified.
The Ukrainian leader also commented on the missile attack on the western Transcarpathian region, in which 15 people were injured.
“So far, there is no signal from Moscow that they will engage in meaningful negotiations and end the war. Pressure is needed, heavy sanctions, heavy tariffs“, Zelensky pointed out.
He added that Russia is massing troops in the occupied part of the Southern Zaporizhia region and announced that Ukraine has successfully tested a new “Flamingo“ missile with a range of 3,000 kilometers, the mass production of which should begin early next year.