If Russian President Vladimir Putin "is not ready" for a one-on-one meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine expects the U.S. to respond with tougher measures, Zelensky said during a meeting with journalists on Aug. 20.
"We are ready for the bilateral meeting. If the Russians are not, then we would like to see a strong response from the United States," Zelensky said, adding that he asked Trump to impose additional sanctions on Moscow if it rejects talks with Ukraine.
The meeting would mark the first encounter between Zelensky and Putin since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The two leaders last met in Paris in December 2019 as part of Normandy Format talks mediated by France and Germany.
Zelensky said that within the next 7 to 10 days, Ukraine expects to gain clarity on the "architecture" of NATO's "Article 5-like" security guarantees that the West can provide as part of the ongoing peace effort, including how each country's commitment.
After this, he said, U.S. President Donald Trump expects that a bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Putin should take place within "one to two weeks." If that meeting yields results, a trilateral summit involving Trump could follow.
