Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday to make a deal with Russia, pouring cold water on Kyiv’s hopes for Tomahawk missiles as the US leader renews a push to settle the war.
Last month, Trump said he believed Ukraine could reclaim all its territory. But just a day after agreeing to a new summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his stance shifted. Zelensky, however, suggested Trump could still change his mind. “It’s good that President Trump didn’t say ‘no,’ but for today, (he) didn’t say ‘yes’” to providing Kyiv with Tomahawks, Zelensky told US broadcaster NBC on Friday.
After their White House meeting, Trump wrote on social media that the talks were “very interesting and cordial,” adding, “I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing and make a DEAL!”
“They should stop where they are. Let both claim victory, let history decide!” Trump posted while flying to his Florida estate. Upon landing, he told reporters that Ukraine and Russia should “stop right now at the battle line.”
Zelensky meanwhile said after the meeting that Russia was “afraid” of the US-made long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, and that he was “realistic” about receiving the weapons from Washington.
He told reporters that while he and Trump discussed long-range weapons, they “decided that we don’t speak about it because… the United States doesn’t want escalation.”
‘Get the war over’
Zelensky came to Washington after weeks of calls for Tomahawks, hoping to capitalise on Trump’s growing frustration with Putin after a summit in Alaska failed to produce a breakthrough. But the Ukrainian left empty-handed as Trump eyes a fresh diplomatic breakthrough on the back of last week’s Gaza peace deal.
Trump has appeared far more upbeat about the prospects of a deal since his lengthy call Thursday with Putin, in which they agreed to meet soon in Budapest.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to get the war over with, without thinking about Tomahawks,” Trump told journalists as he hosted Zelensky.
Trump added that he believed Putin “wants to end the war.”
Zelensky, who came to push for the long-range US-made weapons, said, however, that he would be ready to swap “thousands” of Ukrainian drones in exchange for Tomahawks.
He also congratulated Trump on his recent Middle East peace deal in Gaza and said he hoped he would do the same for Ukraine. “I hope that President Trump can manage it,” he said.
‘Many questions’
Diplomatic talks on ending Russia’s invasion have stalled since the Alaska summit.
The Kremlin said Friday that “many questions” still needed to be worked out before a Putin–Trump meeting could happen, including the makeup of each side’s negotiating team. It dismissed, however, any claims that Putin would face trouble flying through European airspace.
Hungary said it would ensure Putin could enter and “hold successful talks” with the United States despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes.
Since the start of his second term, Trump’s position on the Ukraine war has shifted dramatically back and forth.
Initially, Trump and Putin reached out to each other as the US leader derided Zelensky as a “dictator without elections.” Tensions came to a head in February, when Trump accused his Ukrainian counterpart of “not having the cards” in a rancorous Oval Office meeting.
Relations between the two have since warmed as Trump has expressed growing frustration with Putin.
But Trump has kept a dialogue channel open with Putin, saying they “get along.” The US leader has repeatedly changed his position on sanctions and other steps against Moscow following calls with the Russian president.
Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a “special military operation” to demilitarise the country and prevent the expansion of NATO. Russia now occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory — much of it ravaged by fighting.
On Friday, the Russian defence ministry announced it had captured three villages in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions.
(bms, ni)
