Kyiv expects 'strong' US reply over fate of summit

KYIV/MOSCOW — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv would like a "strong reaction" from Washington if Russian President Vladimir Putin was not willing to sit down for a bilateral meeting with him.

US President Donald Trump is seeking to broker peace between the two countries in conflict, but has conceded that Putin, with whom Zelensky has sought a one-on-one sit-down, may not be willing to make a deal.

"I responded immediately to the proposal for a bilateral meeting: we are ready. But what if the Russians are not ready?" Zelensky said in comments released on Thursday from a briefing with reporters in Kyiv a day earlier.

"If the Russians are not ready, we would like to see a strong reaction from the United States."

Asked by reporters if Putin was willing to meet Zelensky, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters: "Our president has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Zelensky."

Lavrov, though, added a caveat: "With the understanding that all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well worked out, and experts and ministers will prepare appropriate recommendations."

Despite a flurry of diplomacy in recent days between Trump and his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, the path to peace remained uncertain as Washington and allies worked out what security guarantees for Kyiv might look like.

Responding to a question about the Hungarian capital, Budapest, serving as a potential location for future Ukrainian-Russian talks, Zelensky said it would be "challenging".

Hungary has twice offered to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Thursday.

"We will provide proper, fair and safe conditions for such peace talks," he told a pro-government show streamed on social media.

"I don't know of any European politician today, apart from Viktor Orban, who can speak equally with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin," he added.

NATO military chiefs, meanwhile, held a virtual summit on security guarantees for Ukraine, the latest in a flurry of global diplomacy aimed at brokering an end to the nearly three-and-a-half-year conflict.

Credible, durable peace

"On #Ukraine, we confirmed our support. Priority continues to be a just, credible and durable peace," the chair of the alliance's military committee, Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, wrote on X after the meeting.

Lavrov earlier warned that "seriously discussing security guarantees without the Russian Federation is a utopia, a road to nowhere".

On the battlefield, Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles against Ukraine overnight in the biggest barrage since mid-July, killing one person and wounding many others.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 574 drones and 40 missiles. Air defense units downed 546 drones and 31 missiles.

Meanwhile, Russia's defense ministry said it destroyed "49 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles" across multiple regions. The ministry did not detail any casualties or damage.

Agencies via Xinhua