Zelensky proposes three-way meeting with Trump, Putin
Thursday, 29 May 2025
KYIV, May 28 (AFP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a three-way summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as he seeks to force Moscow to halt its three-year-long invasion.
Russian President Putin rejected calls to meet Zelensky in Turkey earlier this month and the Kremlin has said a meeting between the two leaders would only happen after some kind of "agreement" is reached.
The US president has expressed frustration at both Putin and Zelensky for not yet striking a deal to end the war.
The two sides have traded waves of massive aerial attacks in recent weeks, with Ukraine firing almost 300 drones at Russia overnight, the defence ministry in Moscow said.
"If Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or if everyone wants it to be a trilateral meeting, I don't mind. I am ready for any format," Zelensky said in comments to journalists on Tuesday that were published on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian leader said he was "ready" for a "Trump-Putin-me" meeting, and also urged Washington to hit Moscow with a package of hard-hitting sanctions on its banking and energy sectors.
"We are waiting for sanctions from the United States of America," Zelensky said.