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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “doing everything it can” to obstruct a meeting with Vladimir Putin aimed at ending the ongoing conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been attempting to facilitate a meeting between the two leaders, though he acknowledged on Friday that their relationship is strained, stating, “that’s like oil and vinegar… they don’t get along too well.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Putin is prepared to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart “when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all,” further accusing Zelensky of rejecting all proposals.
Following an intensive week of diplomatic efforts, including Trump’s meetings with Putin in Alaska and Zelensky alongside European leaders in Washington, the U.S. President described the conflict as the most challenging he has attempted to resolve.
Trump announced on Monday, after a conversation with the Russian leader, that he had initiated arrangements for a Putin-Zelensky summit, which he would subsequently join.
The Ukrainian President has voiced support for the initiative but has also sought security guarantees from Western allies to prevent future Russian aggression in the event of a peace agreement: “Ukraine, unlike Russia, is not afraid of any meetings between leaders.”
During a visit to Kyiv, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that Trump is striving to “break the deadlock” and that the alliance is collaborating on robust security guarantees with the U.S. and Europe to ensure Putin “will never ever try to attack Ukraine again.”
Speaking alongside Rutte, Zelensky expressed his desire for Ukraine’s security guarantees to mirror NATO’s Article 5, which considers an attack on one member of the alliance as an attack against all members.
“This is the beginning of a big undertaking, and it is not easy, because guarantees consist of what our partners can give Ukraine, as well as what the Ukrainian army should be like, and where we can find opportunities for the army to maintain its strength,” Zelensky stated.
Rutte clarified that the alliance is working with Ukraine to define the guarantees, focusing on strengthening Ukraine’s military capabilities and involving Western security commitments. He noted that it was “too early to exactly say what will be the outcome.”
Past security guarantees have been agreed upon but not honored. The NATO Secretary General emphasized that lessons have been learned from previous agreements, such as the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which Ukraine relinquished its nuclear weapons in exchange for security “assurances” from Russia, the U.S., and the UK.
When asked by the BBC what he would say to Ukrainians who are skeptical about the latest diplomatic efforts, Zelensky responded, “Maybe I’m showboating, but Washington felt like a success.”
“Why? Because yes, Ukraine needs security guarantees. But without the US, Europe will not give us everything it can.”
“I don’t know how this will end but this is much better than it was a week or two ago.”
“We saw unity in Washington. It’s still political, but it’s just the first step of everyone working on security guarantees.”
Russia’s Foreign Minister appeared to dampen hopes for a potential summit, stating to NBC News that “there is no meeting planned.”
Sergei Lavrov said Russia had agreed to show flexibility on a number of issues raised by Trump at the US-Russia summit in Alaska last week.
He went on to accuse Ukraine of not showing the same flexibility in subsequent talks in Washington, blaming Ukraine for hindering progress toward a peace deal.
Lavrov said it was “very clear to everybody that there are several principles which Washington believes must be accepted.”
He said this included no Nato membership for Ukraine and discussions of territorial issues: “Zelensky said no to everything,” Lavrov said.
He was speaking after EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the BBC that Putin was seeking territorial concessions from Ukraine that were a “trap that Putin wants us to walk into”.
“We are forgetting that Russia has not made one single concession and they are the ones who are the aggressor here,” Kallas said.
Later on Friday, Putin said there was “light at the end of the tunnel” for Russia-US relations, referring to last week’s meeting with Trump in Alaska which he referred to as “very good, meaningful and frank”.
The Russian leader said Trump’s “leadership qualities” would help restore relations from recent lows.
He did not mention Ukraine or a meeting with Zelensky.
Despite latest efforts to broker a peace deal, Russia launched one of its heaviest attacks on Ukraine in weeks on Thursday, launching 574 drone and 40 missiles in one night.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone blew up an oil pumping station in the Russian region of Bryansk, halting oil deliveries along the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia – the third attack on the pipeline in nine days.
Hungary and Slovakia are largely dependent on the Druzbha pipeline for their oil supplies, and Budapest says it could take at least five days before operations resume. The two EU member states have complained to the European Commission.
The European Union sought to cut Russia’s energy supplies after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and aims to phase out Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote to President Trump to complain about the attack on the pipeline, and his officials posted Trump’s handwritten response.
“Viktor – I do not like hearing this – I am very angry about it,” he wrote.
“Tell Slovakia. You are my great friend.”
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A guide to some of the biggest events taking place in the West this bank holiday weekend.
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