Zelensky: Ready to meet Putin at any time

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a press conference following talks with US President Donald Trump that he is ready to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin at any time.

Zelensky said the most important thing Trump could do is organize a trilateral meeting where the leaders of the countries involved could discuss all sensitive issues, including matters Zelensky had raised earlier during his talks with Trump.

Asked whether this meant he was willing to meet Putin, the Ukrainian president confirmed he was ready to do so at any time, adding that all sides need to move as quickly as possible toward ending the war.

Criticism of inaction

Zelensky criticized an approach in which people talk about ending the war while doing nothing to actually achieve it. He argued that if leaders say the war must end through dialogue, that means they must actually meet and talk, even if doing so requires overcoming mutual hostility.

Previous attempts

This is not the first time Zelensky has offered to meet Putin. Back in March, he had already said Ukraine took peace negotiations with Russia seriously and that talks would be better conducted at the level of national leaders. In June, Zelensky also revealed he had proposed meeting Putin at the G7 summit in France to discuss ending the war, but Russia was not ready to talk at that time.