Zelenskyy disappointed that Trump and Putin chose Budapest as meeting venue

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Budapest is not the best location for the talks that US President Donald Trump and Russian ruler Vladimir Putin have provisionally agreed to hold.

Source: Zelenskyy at a press briefing, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine

Quote: "I don't think Budapest is the best venue for this meeting. Of course, if it can bring peace, it doesn't matter which country the meeting is held in."

Details: Zelenskyy added that he had previously discussed the issue with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and had suggested other possible options.

According to Zelenskyy, there are a lot of "different good options" for hosting the talks, including Switzerland, Austria, the Vatican, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye.

"We are talking about peace in Ukraine, not elections in Hungary. I don't think a prime minister who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians – or even anything balanced," Zelenskyy said.

"It seems to me that the current Hungarian prime minister is one of the people who are constantly promoting the idea of Russia's supposed unconditional advantages in this war. And when it comes to mediation, I don't think the Hungarian prime minister has, shall we say, an appropriate attitude to this," he added.

Background:

• On 16 October, Trump spoke with Putin for the first time in nearly two months and announced that they plan to meet in Budapest. This would be Putin's first appearance in the capital of an EU member state since the start of the full-scale war, and it would require him to fly over other EU countries.
• During his meeting with Trump on Friday, Zelenskyy said he is ready to join the upcoming leaders' meeting in Budapest.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!