Zelensky says meeting with Trump was ‘positive’ despite no Tomahawk missiles
Ukraine is hoping to purchase 25 Patriot air defence systems from American firms using frozen Russian assets and assistance from partners.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his reportedly tense meeting with US President Donald Trump last week was “positive”, even though he did not secure Tomahawk missiles for the fight against Russia.
Mr Zelensky asserted that Mr Trump reneged on the possibility of sending the long-range missiles to Ukraine after speaking by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin hours before Friday’s meeting.
Mr Trump on Friday called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” and end the war.
“In my opinion, he does not want an escalation with the Russians until he meets with them,” Mr Zelensky said.
According to Mr Zelensky, Mr Trump said during their meeting that Mr Putin’s maximalist demand — that Ukraine cede the entirety of its eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions — was unchanged.
Mr Zelensky expressed scepticism about Mr Putin’s proposal to swap some territory it holds in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions if Ukraine surrenders Donetsk and Luhansk, saying the proposal was unclear.
Ukraine’s leader said Mr Trump ultimately supported a freeze along the current front line.
“We share President Trump’s positive outlook if it leads to the end of the war,” Mr Zelensky said, citing “many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with him and his team”.
Mr Zelensky was diplomatic about his meeting with Mr Trump despite reports that he faced pressure to accept Mr Putin’s demands. The meeting followed the disastrous Oval Office spat on February 28 when the Ukrainian president was scolded on live television for not being grateful for continued US support.
Later on Monday, Mr Trump told reporters that Ukraine could still win the war.
“I don’t think they will. They could still win it. I never said they would win it,” he said. “Anything can happen, you know war is a very strange thing.”
Mr Zelensky said he hopes that Mr Trump’s meeting in the coming weeks with Mr Putin in Hungary — which does not support Ukraine — will pave the way for a peace deal. Their first summit of Mr Trump’s current term was in Alaska in August.
Mr Zelensky said he has not been invited to attend but would consider it if the format for talks were fair to Kyiv.
He also took a stab at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, saying he does not believe that a prime minister “who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians or even provide a balanced contribution”.
Mr Zelensky said he thinks that all parties have “moved closer” to a possible end to the war.
“That doesn’t mean it will definitely end, but President Trump has achieved a lot in the Middle East, and riding that wave he wants to end Russia’s war against Ukraine,” he added.
Ukraine is hoping to purchase 25 Patriot air defence systems from US firms using frozen Russian assets and assistance from partners, but Mr Zelensky said procuring all would require time because of long production waits. He said he spoke to Mr Trump about help procuring them more quickly, potentially from European partners.
Mr Zelensky said the United States is interested in bilateral gas projects with Ukraine, including the construction of an LNG terminal in the southern port city of Odesa. Other projects of interest include those related to nuclear energy and oil.
