More high-level meetings? Zelensky willing to meet Putin in Budapest
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is prepared to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, signalling a potential opening for dialogue.
In an interview with NBC following talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, Zelensky expressed readiness for direct talks “even in Budapest,” but described Putin as a “terrorist” and urged stronger American pressure on Moscow.
The comments came after Trump revealed he had spoken with Putin and agreed in principle to hold a personal meeting, with Budapest named as a possible location. The U.S. president later called his conversation with Zelensky “cordial” and repeated his call for both sides to end the fighting and “let history decide”.
Zelensky admitted he had not secured the delivery of U.S. Tomahawk missiles, though Trump did not rule it out. The Ukrainian leader also dismissed the idea of ceding territory to Russia, saying Ukraine must “stay where we are and give nothing more to Putin”.
If realised, a meeting between Zelensky and Putin in the Hungarian capital would mark the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.