Ukraine has been pushing for a gathering between the 2 leaders and has expressed hope that U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for the opponents to strike a deal, might additionally participate.
Mr. Putin has mentioned he is able to meet Mr. Zelenskyy however solely throughout a “ultimate part” of negotiations on ending the three-year struggle.
“We want an finish to the struggle, which in all probability begins with a gathering of leaders,” Mr. Zelenskyy informed reporters together with AFP. “In talks with us, they’ve begun to debate it. This is already progress towards some type of assembly format,” he added.
At a recent spherical of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday (July 23, 2025), Ukrainian lead negotiator Rustem Umerov proposed to carry the talks earlier than the top of August.
The timing would roughly align with a deadline set by Mr. Trump, who earlier this month gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace cope with Ukraine or face sweeping sanctions.
Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, nonetheless, downplayed the probability of an imminent assembly. “The assembly have to be correctly ready. Only then will it make sense,” Mr. Medinsky was quoted as saying by Russian state information company TASS.
Deals on Patriots, drones
Talks on ending the battle have up to now yielded few outcomes as the 2 sides have radically completely different positions, whereas Ukraine has accused Russia of sending low-level officers with no actual decision-making energy.
Russia has referred to as on Ukraine to successfully retreat from the 4 Ukrainian areas Moscow claims to have annexed in September 2022, a requirement Kyiv has referred to as unacceptable.
Ukraine has dominated out any negotiations on territory till after a ceasefire and says it is going to by no means recognise Russia’s claims over occupied territory – together with Crimea, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014.
Mr. Zelenskyy mentioned Russia was nonetheless making an attempt to advance on a number of components of the entrance, with none main breakthroughs.
Ukraine has been pleading with its Western backers to ship weapons for its troops and to resist every day Russian assaults on Ukrainian cities.
As a part of a deal that enables European states to purchase U.S. weaponry and provides it to Kyiv, Mr. Zelenskyy mentioned his nation was working to safe funding for 10 Patriot air defence programs.
“The President of the United States will probably be transferring, promoting these programs to us. Our activity is to search out funding for all 10 programs,” Mr. Zelenskyy mentioned.
He added that Ukraine had already secured funds for 3 programs – two from Germany and one from Norway.
Mr. Zelenskyy additionally mentioned that Washington and Kyiv had agreed on a deal price between $10-30 billion {dollars} for Ukraine to supply drones to the United States.
This would characterize a departure from Ukraine’s unofficial stance in opposition to weapons exports.
“With America and President Trump, we agreed that they’ll buy drones from us. This settlement is in place,” Mr. Zelenskyy mentioned.
‘Listened’ to protesters
Mr. Zelenskyy mentioned he was “targeted on the problem of the struggle as a result of proper now, the primary concern in Ukraine is the struggle.”
But he has been dealing with protests, spurred by the adoption of a legislation revoking the independence of two anti-corruption companies.
The adoption of the legislation triggered the largest public protests in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion and drew criticism from Kyiv’s European allies.
“It is completely regular to react when individuals don’t need one thing or once they dislike one thing,” Mr. Zelenskyy mentioned.
“For me, it was crucial that we listened and responded adequately,” Mr. Mr. Zelenskyy added.
The authorities has since submitted a invoice geared toward restoring the independence of the anti-graft our bodies – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
It stays to be seen whether or not parliament, principally loyal to Mr. Zelenskyy, will approve the draft legislation.
The controversial legislation drew criticism from Kyiv’s European allies, who fear the transfer might undermine anti-corruption reforms key to Ukraine’s bid to hitch the European Union.
“We need to be a part of Europe. No one is keen to take any dangers,” Mr. Zelenskyy mentioned.
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