Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov and US counterpart Marco Rubio discussed preparations for an upcoming summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in a call on Monday, both sides said.
Rubio "emphasized the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war," Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that he was ready to join if invited, but neither Moscow nor Washington mentioned Zelensky in their statements.
The Kremlin said earlier it had "no details" about whether Zelensky would attend.
Diplomatic efforts to end Russia's three-and-a-half-year invasion have stalled since Trump and Putin met for peace talks in Alaska in August.
The two announced last week that they would meet in Budapest for a second round of talks, but it was not clear whether Zelensky, who was shut out from the previous meeting, would attend.
"If I am invited to Budapest, if it is an invitation in a format where we meet as three, or, as it's called, shuttle diplomacy, President Trump meets with Putin, and President Trump meets with me, then in one format or another, we will agree," Zelensky told reporters in remarks released on Monday.
Zelensky also criticized Hungary, Moscow's closest partner in the EU, as a meeting place.
Western countries encouraged Ukraine to sign away its nuclear arsenal at a summit in Budapest in 1994, a defining moment in its post-Soviet history that many Ukrainians now see as a betrayal.
"Another 'Budapest' scenario wouldn't be positive either," Zelensky said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday welcomed the planned summit but said Ukrainians and Europeans should be included.
AFP
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