According to TASS news agency, Ukrainian President Zelensky recently said, “We are close to the possible end of the conflict. I’m sure, but that doesn’t mean that the conflict must end, the U.S. president has made significant achievements in the Middle East and is being motivated by this to seek to end the Russian conflict.”
According to the report, Zelensky also said that he was willing to attend the meeting between US President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, and would also agree to accept the tripartite talks or indirect dialogue mediated by Trump.
Earlier, on October 16th, Trump said that he had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the two sides would hold a face-to-face meeting in Hungary. Russian Presidential Assistant ushakov confirmed that the two sides had a phone call on the same day, and Russia and the United States will immediately start preparing for this meeting and continue to communicate on the possible meeting date. Hungarian Prime Minister Orban has also ordered the establishment of a preparatory committee to prepare for the summit.
In response to Ukraine’s contradictory statements, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said on Monday that “Moscow is paying attention to all the contradictory statements made by Kiev,” which do not contribute to efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict.
Trump tweeted on social media on Friday that he had a long conversation with Putin on the same day, mainly on issues such as ending the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the subsequent Russian-U.S. trade.
Trump wrote that his phone call with Putin was "productive" and "made great progress." The two sides agreed to hold a high-level US-Russia meeting next week. The U.S. delegation will be led by Secretary of State Rubio, and the meeting venue has yet to be determined. After the high-level meeting, he and Putin will meet in Budapest to discuss how to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Trump did not mention the date of the meeting between U.S. and Russian leaders.