Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a three-way peace summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in a bold new push to bring Russia’s three-year invasion to a halt.
In remarks that will send shockwaves through diplomatic circles, Zelensky told reporters he is open to ‘any format’, including a trilateral meeting with the Russian and US leaders, after the Kremlin flatly refused earlier calls for direct talks.
‘If Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or if everyone wants it to be a trilateral meeting, I don’t mind. I am ready for any format,’ Zelensky said in comments to journalists on Tuesday that were published on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian leader said he was ‘ready’ for a ‘Trump-Putin-me’ meeting, and also urged Washington to slap Moscow with a package of hard-hitting sanctions on its banking and energy sector.
But the Kremlin has stated the Putin-Zelensky-Tump meeting will only be possible after a ‘concrete’ Ukraine-Russia agreement has been made.
The offer comes as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiral once again, with President Trump said to be growing increasingly exasperated at both Zelensky and Putin failing to broker a peace deal.
Putin, meanwhile, snubbed a proposed face-to-face with Zelensky in Turkey earlier this month, with the Kremlin insisting that no meeting will happen unless a vague ‘agreement’ is first reached.
Undeterred, Zelensky is now appealing directly to Washington for a new wave of crippling sanctions aimed at Russia’s energy and banking sectors – the lifeblood of the Kremlin’s war machine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sensationally called for a three-way peace summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in a bold new push to bring Russia’s three-year invasion to a halt
‘If Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or if everyone wants it to be a trilateral meeting, I don’t mind. I am ready for any format,’ Zelensky said
The offer comes as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiral once again, with President Trump said to be growing increasingly exasperated at both Zelensky and Putin failing to broker a peace deal
‘We are waiting for sanctions from the United States of America,’ Zelensky said.
‘Trump confirmed that if Russia does not stop, sanctions will be imposed. We discussed two main aspects with him – energy and the banking system. Will the US be able to impose sanctions on these two sectors? I would very much like that.’
Zelensky’s push comes amid growing frustration in Kyiv over the lack of fresh US sanctions, especially after Russia rejected a coordinated call by Western nations for an immediate ceasefire earlier this month.
And in a show of defiance, Ukraine launched one of its biggest-ever drone strikes on Russian territory just hours after Zelensky’s comments.
According to Moscow’s defence ministry, nearly 300 drones were fired into Russian airspace overnight.
Officials claimed only ‘minimal damage’ but this is yet to be independently verified.
On the battlefield, the situation remains volatile. Zelensky has warned that Moscow is massing over 50,000 troops near the Sumy border region in Ukraine’s northeast – a worrying escalation as Russia captures more territory in their push to create what Putin has descried as a ‘buffer zone’.
Despite peace talks being dangled repeatedly, Zelensky revealed that Ukraine has yet to receive a ‘memorandum’ from Russia spelling out its conditions for a potential deal.
This has raised fears that the war, already in its third year, may continue to grind on with no end in sight.
It comes after it emerged that Ukraine secretly had the green light to fire missiles into Russia since November last year.
Kyiv’s forces were reportedly quietly given permission to unleash deadly missiles into Russia months ago – with sources confirming that the Biden administration discreetly lifted a ban many assumed was still in place.
While headlines suggest President Donald Trump is about to officially lift the embargo, insiders have claimed the real decision was made long ago – making Trump’s move largely symbolic.
Ukrainian drone attack on a settlement, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Moscow region, Russia, May 28, 2025
According to Moscow’s defence ministry, nearly 300 drones were fired into Russian airspace overnight
Ukrainian kamikaze drones strike a military facility in Russia in the early hours of May 26, 2025
The revelation could spark a diplomatic firestorm across Europe and beyond, as NATO allies such as the UK and France are now exposed to the risk of retaliation from the Kremlin.
Intelligence experts fear a wave of covert attacks could be underway, with British police investigating three car fires linked to PM Keir Starmer, amid suggestions of potential Russian involvement -a claim Moscow strongly denies.
For months, Ukraine has been hammering deep inside Russian territory, hitting drone factories and ammunition depots.
It has been widely assumed that Kyiv was only allowed to fire back when directly defending itself, especially near contested areas like Kursk.
But that belief has been blown apart by Ukrainian military officials speaking to The Mirror.
‘This is a highly complex and difficult issue as we were told the ban was lifted some time ago,’ a Ukrainian source admitted.
They said the decision was not revealed to the public as there were concerns about making it known that Ukraine were able to fire into Russia with western weapons.
‘There was perhaps a concern about escalation, but it seems they now have the understanding of the capability we have of striking deep inside Russian territory.
‘The hitting of the drones factory recently was a particularly useful target since, as we have seen in recent days, they are a big threat,’ the source added.
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