Planned Budapest talks offer new chance for Putin to engage seriously with Ukraine: German FM
Budapest is another stab at getting Putin to negotiate seriously with Ukraine, German Foreign Minister says.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said the planned Budapest talks between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were a second attempt to make the Russian President recognise the need to negotiate seriously with Ukraine.
"I see the talks in Budapest as a second attempt, after the talks in Alaska, to convince Putin at last to negotiate seriously with Ukraine," he told reporters on Friday during a trip to Türkiye.
"Ukraine will insist on this, and it will have the full support of Germany in doing so," he added.
Zelenskyy will meet Trump at the White House later on Friday, seeking US-made Tomahawk missiles even as the US president readies for the fresh summit with Putin.
Zelenskyy is making his third trip to Washington since Trump returned to office, following a disastrous televised shouting match in February and a make-up meeting in August, as the US leader's stance on the war blows hot and cold.
Ukraine had hoped Zelenskyy's trip would be more about adding to the pressure on Putin, especially by getting American-made long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that can strike deep into Russia.
But Trump, who once said he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, appears set on pursuing a new diplomatic breakthrough to follow the Gaza ceasefire deal that he brokered last week.