KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine has said that it expects rapid progress on the security guarantees its allies could provide in a peace deal with Russia but that one of the possible summit sites the United States is pursuing would be "challenging."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged swift progress as military officials from the United States and Europe crafted proposed plans ahead of negotiations.
After Russia launched one of its biggest aerial attacks of the year overnight, Zelenskyy said Thursday that there was "still no signal from Moscow that they truly intend to engage in substantive negotiations and end this war.”
Later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated his government's longstanding demands that Ukraine be demilitarized and stop trying to be allied with the West.
"Ukraine would remain neutral, non-nuclear and non-aligned," Lavrov said at a news conference. He suggested that a meeting between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin depended on addressing those demands in advance and accused Kyiv and its allies of undermining Trump's efforts to secure a peace deal.
"The goals pursued by the current Ukrainian leadership — goals that are undoubtedly fueled by the Western sponsors of the Kyiv regime — are directed against the efforts being made by President Trump," he said.
Later Thursday, the U.S. military announced that defense chiefs from Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the United States and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe met in Washington this week to develop "military options to support negotiations."
"These options will be presented to each nation’s respective national security advisors for appropriate consideration in ongoing diplomatic efforts," U.S. Joint Staff spokesperson Joseph Holstead said in a statement.
Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a statement Thursday that he had participated in the meeting by videoconferencing with the other military commanders.
"I am convinced that through joint efforts, with the political and diplomatic support of Ukraine’s dedicated partners, we will be able to achieve a real peace and guarantee security for Ukraine and the whole of democratic Europe," he said.
Trump has promised European leaders that the United States would help provide security guarantees in any settlement with Russia, a key concern for Kyiv. He has since made it clear that that would not include U.S. troops on the ground but has said it might involve air support.
Once Kyiv has more clarity about what protections its allies are willing to offer, Zelenskyy said, he would then be ready to meet with Putin. And if Putin was not ready to meet, he said, he “would like to see a strong reaction from the United States."
Where those talks might place has emerged as a possible stumbling block.
The White House has pressed ahead with making arrangements despite some public reluctance from the Kremlin. The Hungarian capital, Budapest, and the Swiss city of Geneva were among the sites being discussed, a senior administration official told NBC News, as Washington sought to secure a location and date.
But Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Budapest would be a “challenging” venue for his first direct talks with Putin since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion.
The meeting should take place in a neutral European country, he said, pointing to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's close ties to the Kremlin and lack of support for Kyiv.
“Switzerland, Austria — we agree,” Zelenskyy told reporters, adding that Ukraine would also accept Turkey.
Russia signaled Wednesday it was in no hurry for Putin and Zelenskyy to sit down together, with Lavrov saying, “Talks must be prepared with the utmost care.”
Adding to the apparent lack of urgency in talks, Russia launched a massive aerial bombardment overnight that included nearly 600 drones and 40 missiles, Ukraine's air force said early Thursday.
The strikes reached deep inside Ukraine, hitting an American business in the Western region of Zakarpattia, Zelenskyy said, and injuring at least 15 employees. At least one person was killed and two other people were injured in Lviv as dozens of residential buildings were destroyed, governor Maksym Kozytskyy wrote on Telegram.
Zelenskyy said on X: "The Russians carried out this attack as if nothing has changed at all, as if there are no global efforts to stop this war. This requires a response."
Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv and Mithil Aggarwal from Hong Kong.
