Zelenskyy Dares Putin To Face Him In Budapest, Urges Trump To Hit Hard

‘I’m Ready’: Zelenskyy Dares Putin To Face Him In Budapest, Urges Trump To Hit Harder On Russia

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy signals willingness for direct talks with Putin, pressing Trump to escalate pressure on Russia amid ongoing war.

Brasilia: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has set the stage for a new chapter in the Russia-Ukraine war. He said he is ready to sit across the table from Vladimir Putin in Budapest. He also called on Donald Trump to turn up the pressure on the Kremlin.

In an interview with NBC News, he sounded determined. He said Trump must go further than his recent deal with Hamas. “Putin is something similar but stronger than Hamas. That is why more pressure,” he said.

Zelenskyy left Washington without the Tomahawk missiles he had hoped for. The long-range weapons could strike deep inside Russia. Trump had hinted at the idea earlier. After his White House meeting with the Ukrainian president, he stayed vague. “It was good that President Trump did not say ‘no', but for today, did not say ‘yes',” he added.

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He said Putin feared a possible U.S. missile transfer. “Putin is afraid that the United States will deliver us Tomahawks,” Zelenskyy highlighted.

The Russian president had warned such a move would mark a “new stage of escalation”.

Trump has announced his plan to meet Putin in Budapest. It will be the second round of talks on ending the war.

Zelenskyy said he is ready to attend the meeting. “If we really want to have just and lasting peace, we need both sides of this tragedy. How can there be some deals without us about us?” he said.

When Trump asked if he would join the summit, Zelenskyy said he answered simply, “I am ready.”

Earlier efforts by Trump to arrange such talks had failed. The Kremlin had brushed off U.S. proposals. Zelenskyy's visit came as Russia intensified its attacks on Ukraine's power network. The strikes caused blackouts in several cities. Ukraine, in turn, hit Russian energy sites to choke Moscow's economy.

The Ukrainian leader said the battlefield remains open. “We are not losing this war, and Putin is not winning,” he said, calling Russian airstrikes a sign of weakness. “That is why he really escalates airstrikes,” he added.

He warned that Putin wanted an “energy disaster this winter”.

After the meeting, Trump posted Truth Social Ukraine and Russia “should stop where they are” and “make a DEAL”.

Data from open-source maps shows Russia now holds about 44,600 square miles of Ukrainian territory, nearly 19% of the country.

Zelenskyy dismissed any idea of surrendering land. “If we want to stop this war and go to peace negotiations urgently and in diplomatic way, we need to stay where we stay, not to give something additional to Putin,” he said.

Peace talks, he added, must happen “not under missiles, not under drones”.

When asked if Trump could end the war, he smiled. “God bless, yes,” he said.

Source: ZeeNews
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