President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled out giving up any additional unoccupied territories to Russia and expressed his readiness to join the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with NBC News, as reported by European Pravda

Quote: "If we want to stop this war and go to peace negotiations urgently, and in a diplomatic way, we need to stay where we stay and not give something additional [territories – ed.] to Putin because he wants [it]."

Details: The president called Putin a terrorist but confirmed he was ready to meet him face to face.

"If we really want to have a just and lasting peace, we need both sides of this tragedy... How can there be any deals about us without us?" he added.

When asked whether he intended to go to Budapest, Zelenskyy said he had told Trump that he was ready.

Background:

• According to The Washington Post, during his conversation with Trump, Putin demanded full control over Donetsk Oblast to end the war, hinting that he might concede parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts in return.
• Trump spoke with Putin on 16 October for the first time in nearly two months and later announced plans for their meeting in Budapest. It would be Putin's first appearance in the capital of an EU member state since the start of the full-scale invasion, requiring him to fly through the airspace of other EU countries.
• Putin's potential trip to Budapest is complicated by the risks involved in crossing European airspace.

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