Zelenskyy Ready To Meet Trump And Putin Without Conditions As Long As Not In Moscow

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy/PHOTO via X @ZelenskyyUa

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to meet US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a trilateral or bilateral format without preconditions, but ruled out the possibility of a meeting being held in Moscow.

"I am ready to meet with President Trump and Putin on a trilateral or bilateral basis. I am ready to meet without any conditions," Zelenskyy said in an interview with British television station Sky News broadcast on Tuesday (16/9).

However, Zelenskyy said he had no intention of going to Moscow to negotiate, but was open to considering proposed gatherings in any other country except Russia, saying "there are many proposals available."

Regarding the ceasefire, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was also ready to discuss the matter.

"We hope that President Trump will agree to a ceasefire. We are ready for a ceasefire," the Ukrainian president added.

Earlier in early September, Putin said if Zelenskyy was ready to meet, he could come to Moscow. Zelenskyy rejected the offer, at the same time stating that he was ready for a meeting "in any format."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said Putin invited Zelenskyy to Moscow to negotiate, not to admit defeat.

Trump previously announced plans for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, and after that there may be a meeting of three parties involving Trump.

Meanwhile, Putin's main adviser Yury Ushakov said in a telephone conversation that Putin and Trump expressed support for continuing direct negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

Therefore, they discussed the possibility of increasing the level of representations from Ukraine and Russia in the negotiations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was ready to discuss the political aspects of the peace process with Ukraine in any format, and Russia had not yet accepted Ukraine's response to the proposal it made in Istanbul in 2022 to form three working groups to resolve humanitarian, military and political issues.