White House considering Budapest for Putin-Zelenskyy bilateral, report suggests – live | Ukraine

Leavitt has been asked several times about the location of a meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin but wouldn’t divulge anything, refusing to comment on reports about Budapest and that the Kremlin had even suggested Moscow.

Politico is now reporting that the White House is planning for the summit to be held in Budapest, citing a Trump administration official and a person close to the administration.

This would probably be an uncomfortable choice for Zelenskyy given the Hungarian prime minister Victor Orbán is a longtime Putin ally.

Asked if the US president is considering US troops in the air if not on the ground as part of security guarantees for Ukraine, Leavitt says that “is an option and a possibility”.

Asked for the current status of talks regarding security guarantees for Ukraine and what the US’s red lines, Leavitt reiterates that Donald Trump has “definitively” ruled out American boots on the ground.

The president has definitely stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies.

She adds that Trump has directed his national security team to coordinate with Europe, and continue to discuss these matters with Ukraine and Russia.

I’m now handing the blog over to Lucy Campbell, but before I go, here is a quick roundup of today’s headlines so far:

• The US president, Donald Trump, has ruled out the deployment of American troops in Ukraine, but appeared to hint at possibility of US air security guarantees.

• Trump today repeated his warning that Vladimir Putin would face a “rough situation” if he did not cooperate in the peace process, while Volodymyr Zelenskyy had to “show some flexibility”, PA reported. “I hope President Putin is going to be good and if he’s not, that’s going to be a rough situation,” Trump said. “And I hope that Zelensky, President Zelensky, will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility.”

• Vladimir Putin has agreed to face-to-face talks with Zelenskyy, according to Trump and European leaders, and the Ukrainian president has welcomed the news, calling a “big step forward” towards securing a peace deal.

• The “Coalition of the Willing” met virtually today to debrief after last night’s talks at the White House, it emerged.

• British prime minister Keir Starmer described the European leaders’ talks at the White House as “good and constructive” and said they produced “real progress”.

• The trilateral meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy, Putin ‘can bring breakthrough on path to peace,’ Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.

• On the back of last night’s meeting with Trump and European allies at the White House, Zelenskyy confirmed that the allies were “already working on the concrete content of the security guarantees.”

• Geneva is emerging as a potential location for a peace summit between Putin and Zelenskyy, as first floated by the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Speaking to reporters after his White House visit, Macron said the summit should be hosted by “a neutral country, maybe Switzerland – I’m pushing for Geneva – or another country.”

• Military planners to meet in US to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, UK said. The UK prime minister’s office released a short statement after the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine, co-chaired by Starmer and Macron.

• Ukraine need to be open to discuss territorial changes, not join Nato, the Slovak PM, Robert Fico, said. Fico, who repeatedly clashed with Ukraine in the past and sought to block or delay some EU sanctions on Russia, insisted that “the first basic prerequisite for ending the conflict is the understanding that Ukraine cannot become a member state of Nato.”

• EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said the EU would continue targeting Russia’s war economy and that the next sanctions package against Moscow should be ready by next month.

The military chiefs of staff of Nato’s 32 member countries will hold a video meeting tomorrow to discuss developments concerning Ukraine, the head of the alliance’s military committee has said.

Italian admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone posted that the military head of Nato’s forces in Europe, US General Alexus Grynkewich, would give an update “on the current security environment” as “diplomatic efforts to secure peace in Ukraine progress”, AFP reports.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said the EU would continue targeting Russia’s war economy and that the next sanctions package against Moscow should be ready by next month.

She was speaking after a virtual European Council summit of about the war in Ukraine, a day after an extraordinary meeting of Ukrainian and several EU leaders with U.S. president Donald Trump in Washington.

Kallas said “unity among EU leaders in today’s virtual summit was palpable” and that she had placed the topics of Ukraine security and Russia sanctions at the top of the agenda for talks next week among EU foreign and defence ministers.

“[Vladimir] Putin cannot be trusted to honour any promise or commitment. Therefore, security guarantees must be strong and credible enough to deter Russia from re-grouping and re-attacking,” Kallas said in a post on X.