Zelenskyy 'not afraid' to meet Putin – as Trump braces for face-to-face talks with Russian leader in days
Volodymyr Zelesnkyy has said he is “not afraid’ to meet Vladimir Putin in person after reports emerged that Donald Trump will come face-to-face with the Russian leader in days.
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The White House put out an official statement on Wednesday afternoon, saying Russia requested the meeting and Trump was "open to it".
The Kremlin later announced an in-person meeting will happen in days, after details of United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Putin emerged.
In a show of support, Mr Zelenskyy wrote on X: “Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side.”
He added that talks between them had been in “two bilateral and one trilateral” format, as he demanded that Europe be involved in efforts to end the war.
It comes after Putin rejected a slew of opportunities to sit down with Mr Zelenskyy and discuss a possible ceasefire in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian officials have met with American counterparts separately.
Read more: Trump to meet Putin 'as early as next week' to discuss Ukraine ceasefire, White House says
The Kremin has said Putin will meet Mr Zelenskyy "after preparatory work is done at the expert level”.
On Wednesday, Trump declared Russia an 'extraordinary threat to the US'.
Wednesday saw Trump roll out the first wave of US sanctions against Putin over Russia's refusal to stop the war in Ukraine and agree a ceasefire deal.
Signing an executive order in response to the "threat", the US president attempted to use his trade policy to strong-arm Russia into stopping the war with Ukraine.
"I have received additional information from various senior officials on, among other things, the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to the situation in Ukraine,’ states the order announced on Wednesday," Trump said.
Wednesday also saw Zelenskyy speak with Trump over the phone - just hours after he announced the US would impose a 25% tariff on imports from India as a penalty for purchasing Russian Federation oil.
It comes as further details emerged following "constructive" talks between Putin and Witkoff in Moscow, with Trump taking to his social media platform Truth Social to declare the talks "highly productive".
The meeting came just days before Trump's deadline on a Ukraine ceasefire deal is set to expire.
Earlier in the day, the Kremlin issued a vaguely worded statement focussing on the talks, highlighting that both sides have exchanged "signals" during the talks in Moscow.
