KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine has said it expects rapid progress on the security guarantees its allies could provide in a peace deal with Russia, but that one of the possible summit sites being pursued by the United States would be “challenging.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged swift progress as military officials from the U.S. and Europe meet. Ukraine wanted to “have an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within seven to 10 days,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.
After Russia launched one of its biggest aerial attacks of the year overnight, he said Thursday that there was “still no signal from Moscow that they truly intend to engage in substantive negotiations and end this war.”
Later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated his government’s longstanding demands that Ukraine be demilitarized and stop trying to be allied with the West.
“Ukraine would remain neutral, non-nuclear and non-aligned,” Lavrov said during a news conference. He suggested that a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting depended on addressing these demands in advance, and accused Kyiv and its allies of undermining Trump’s efforts to secure a peace deal.
“The goals pursued by the current Ukrainian leadership — goals that are undoubtedly fueled by the Western sponsors of the Kyiv regime — are directed against the efforts being made by President Trump,” he said.
Trump has promised European leaders that the U.S. would help provide security guarantees in any settlement with Russia, a key concern for Kyiv. He has since made clear that this would not include U.S. troops on the ground, but might involve air support.
Once Kyiv has more clarity on what protections its allies are willing to offer, Zelenskyy said, he would then be ready to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. And if Putin was not ready to meet, he said he “would like to see a strong reaction from the United States.”
Where those talks might place has emerged as a possible stumbling block.
The White House has pressed ahead with making arrangements despite some public reticence from the Kremlin. Hungarian capital Budapest and the Swiss city of Geneva were among the sites being discussed, a senior administration official told NBC News, as Washington sought to secure a location and date.
But Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Budapest would be a “challenging” venue for his first direct talks with his Russian counterpart since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion.
The meeting should take place in a neutral European country, he said, pointing to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s close ties to the Kremlin and lack of support for Kyiv.
“Switzerland, Austria — we agree,” Zelenskyy told reporters, adding that Ukraine would also accept Turkey.
Russia on Wednesday signaled it was in no hurry for Putin and Zelenskyy to sit down together, with Lavrov saying “talks must be prepared with the utmost care.”
Adding to this apparent lack of urgency in talks, Russia launched a massive aerial bombardment overnight that included nearly 600 drones and 40 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said early Thursday.
The strikes reached deep inside Ukraine, hitting an American business in the Western region of Zakarpattia, Zelenskyy said, and injuring at least 15 employees. At least one person was killed and two others were injured in Lviv as dozens of residential buildings were destroyed, governor Maksym Kozytskyy wrote on Telegram.
“The Russians carried out this attack as if nothing has changed at all, as if there are no global efforts to stop this war,” Zelenskyy said on X.
“This requires a response.”
Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv, and Mithil Aggarwal reported from Hong Kong.
