Germany sees “Budapest talks as a second attempt to convince Putin to negotiate seriously with Ukraine”

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the expected summit between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin represents “a second attempt” to make the Russian leader recognize the need for serious negotiations with Ukraine, reports Reuters.

“I see the Budapest talks as a second attempt, after the Alaska talks, to finally convince Putin to seriously negotiate with Ukraine,” Wadephul told reporters during a visit to Turkey.

“Ukraine will insist on this and will have the full support of Germany in this regard,” he added.

His Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, said in the same press statements that he does not believe that the Budapest summit between Trump and Putin will involve “taking a decision in the absence of Ukraine”, as US officials are “discussing with both sides separately”.

Hakan Fidan recalled that Turkey also had separate meetings with representatives of Moscow and Kiev before bringing the parties together for three rounds of talks in Istanbul.

“Now, he will first meet with Mr. Zelenski and get the latest data from him. Then, he will meet with Mr. Putin and we think he will have an overall picture then,” the Turkish foreign minister said.

Donald Trump met with Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday, a day after the US and Russian presidents spoke in which the two agreed to meet in Budapest at a date to be determined. Ukraine's leader spent about two and a half hours at the White House, where he later said he spoke with US officials about air defense and long-range weapons, among other things.