Zelenskyy on meeting Trump and Putin: 'I'm ready for any format'
Foto: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach/RBC-Ucrania)
During a meeting with journalists, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is ready for meetings on peace negotiations at the highest level - in both bilateral and trilateral formats, RBC-Ukraine reports.
According to Zelenskyy, Kyiv is not opposed to participating in a Trump-Putin-Zelenskyy meeting. He noted that the Ukrainian, American, and Russian sides have been informed of such readiness.
"We are ready for the format 'Trump-Putin-me,' and we are ready for the formats 'Trump-Putin,' 'Trump-Zelenskyy,' and then all three of us. I mean simultaneously, not that these are scattered meetings," Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian President gave an example of the meetings in Saudi Arabia, where the Americans spoke separately with the Ukrainian and Russian sides, even though it all took place in the same space. According to Zelenskyy, what was missing then was a direct dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow, which later occurred in Istanbul.
Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine is also ready for technical meetings in the Vatican, Switzerland, or any other proposed location. He also does not rule out an immediate meeting at the level of leaders, without prior preparation: "If our decision can be discussed right away without technical meetings - we are ready."
What meeting formats is Ukraine considering
At the same time, the Ukrainian President stressed that he sees no issue with formats.
"I don't care. I'm ready for any format," Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian leader explained that the format depends on the topics: to discuss a ceasefire, in his words, a trilateral meeting involving the US, which could act as a monitoring party, would be appropriate.
In the case of negotiations about security guarantees, Zelenskyy considers the participation of European countries to be important:
"If it's some kind of meeting, for example, about security guarantees, I really want Europeans to be involved. This is about them providing those security guarantees. They are currently the only ones who have declared that they are ready to support Ukraine - for example, the Ukrainian army, financially and with weapons," the Ukrainian President emphasized.
Zelenskyy said that issues related to Ukraine's EU membership should not be discussed with Russia: "That definitely doesn't depend on the 'Russians.' It depends on the EU. And I want to talk about that with them.”
The Head of State concluded that Ukraine is open to any negotiation format, but the content of the meetings must correspond to the authority and role of the parties involved.
Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Türkiye
On May 16, for the first time in several years, direct negotiations took place between representatives of Ukraine and Russia. Delegations from both countries met in Türkiye. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also arrived in the country, hoping for a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin, but the Russian leader ignored the invitation to dialogue.
Immediately afterward, Putin stated that Russia is ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum regarding a potential future peace treaty.
Today, the US President's Special Envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, announced a possible location for a Trump-Putin meeting.
"We would like to have it in Vatican, but the Russians did not want to go there. So, Geneva may be the next stop where all three major leaders will meet - President Putin, President Zelenskyy and President Trump and hammer this thing out, and sign some kind of document to end this war," Kellogg stated.
