Sources: Meeting between Zelensky and Putin may take place in Budapest

A trilateral meeting between Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, and the President of the United States, Donald Trump, may possibly take place in Hungary’s capital, Budapest.

This is stated by an unnamed official in the White House according to Reuters.

According to the source, President Donald Trump has spoken with Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, about the potential meeting between Zelensky, Putin, and Trump taking place in the city.

Trump and Orban also spoke on Monday about Ukraine’s talks with the EU regarding membership in the union, the official reports.

Reuters asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday morning whether a trilateral meeting between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky would take place in Budapest.

“Could be,” he replies.

Istanbul, where delegations from the two countries met earlier this year, has also been mentioned, says an unnamed senior government official.

Putin and Zelensky are to discuss at the meeting how to reach a conclusion to the war in Ukraine.

Reports about where a meeting may possibly be held come after a meeting in the White House on Monday. Here, Zelensky, Trump, and a number of European leaders, as well as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, participated.

According to the BBC, never before have so many European leaders participated in a meeting simultaneously in the White House during a war.

After the meeting, Trump wrote on his social media, Truth Social, that a meeting between Putin and Zelensky will be planned, followed by a meeting between the two and himself.

Trump reiterated on Tuesday in a radio interview on “The Mark Levin Show” that Putin and Zelensky are in the process of arranging the meeting, and that what he refers to as the killings during the war must stop.

Ukraine submitted an application for EU membership on February 28, 2022 – just days after Russia entered Ukraine.

In July last year, the EU formally began negotiations with Ukraine regarding membership.

/ritzau/