Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled he’s open to joining President Donald Trump’s proposed summit in Budapest, but said the American president needs to get tougher with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” said Trump needed to exert “more pressure” on Russia, making a comparison to the president’s recent involvement with the tenuous ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

The Ukrainian leader said that “Putin is something similar – but more strong than Hamas,” arguing that global pressure is necessary to end the bloody war that started in February 2022 when Russia invaded its neighbor.

Zelenskyy in the interview, taped after his Friday visit to the White House,. said he told Trump he's "ready" to attend talks on ending the violence.

On the eve of Zelenskyy’s White House visit, Trump had said he plans to hold a summit with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, to work on an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, which he announced after his phone call with the Russian president.

Zelenskyy on Oct. 19 also told "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker that Trump did not approve of Ukraine’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles during their recent meeting, but suggested it was not an outright refusal. He explained that Trump “didn’t say ‘no,’ but for today, didn’t say ‘yes.’”

The missiles, which can travel 1,500 miles, could give Ukraine a significant advantage in the ongoing war, opening up targets deep inside Russian territory including military bases, logistics hubs, airfields, and command centers. Russia has threatened a new round of dangerous escalation with the West if the United States were to sell them to Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Trump seemed receptive to giving Ukraine the long-range missiles, but his position appeared to change on Oct. 16, after speaking by phone with Putin and agreeing to another U.S.-Russia summit in the coming weeks.

"We need Tomahawks for the United States of America, too," Trump told reporters. "We have a lot of them, but we need them. We can't deplete for our country."

The president echoed the sentiment in an Oct. 19 interview on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures” show, telling host Maria Bartiromo he’s “looking at” the Ukrainian request but said “we can’t give all of our weapons to Ukraine.”

Though Zelenskyy left Washington without an agreement to procure the American-made weapons, he appeared open to the U.S.-negotiated summit in Central Europe.

Trump has long expressed his desire to end the war, which is approaching the 3 ½-year mark. Trump said multiple times during his meeting with Zelenskyy he thinks Putin wants to make a deal.

The last U.S.-Russia summit with Putin in Alaska failed to advance peace negotiations.

Contributing: Joey Garrison and Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY.

Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Zelenskyy says Trump needs to apply 'more pressure' with Putin, agrees to Budapest summit

Reporting by Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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