Zelensky Threatens Strong U.S. Response If Putin Refuses Meeting

In a significant development regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he is looking forward to a "strong reaction" from the United States if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to hold a direct bilateral meeting between the two parties.

In a press conference held in Kyiv, Zelensky confirmed that Moscow's position remains unclear regarding potential concessions over occupied territories, considering the proposal to hold the next talks in the Hungarian capital Budapest as "a challenge".

Zelensky warned of a new Russian military escalation, indicating that Russian forces are reinforcing their positions along the southern front line, specifically in the Zaporizhia region, which Moscow is seeking to officially annex. He added:

"Zaporizhia: the enemy is reinforcing its presence. We can clearly see that they continue to transfer part of their forces from the Kursk direction to Zaporizhia."

On the other side, U.S. President Donald Trump is leading new mediation efforts aimed at ending the war that has been ongoing for more than three years.

Trump has hosted a series of high-level meetings in recent days, starting on Friday in Alaska with a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by a summit in Washington on Monday that brought him together with President Zelensky and several European leaders.

Currently, the possibility of a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky is being discussed, and the meeting may be elevated to a trilateral summit that includes the two leaders and Trump, in a new attempt to break the political deadlock and reach an agreement that ends the war that has burdened the region and the world.