US President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday. The meeting came a day after he held a two-and-a-half-hour phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Following the meeting, Trump described his talks with the Ukrainian leader as ‘very interesting and cordial’ in a post on Truth Social.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL!”
He further urged both sides to ‘stop where they are’ and ‘claim victory’.
“They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent. This is a War that would have never started if I were President. Thousands of people being slaughtered each and every week — NO MORE, GO HOME TO YOUR FAMILIES IN PEACE!” Trump further added.
Speaking to reporters before the bilateral discussions, Trump appeared to soften his earlier stance on supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. He said he would ‘rather have them not need Tomahawks’.
“We are going to be talking about tomahawks, and would much rather have them not need tomahawks. Would much rather have the war be over, to be honest. We are in it to get the war over,” he asserted.
The US President also noted that the United States required such missiles for its own defence.
“We need tomahawks. And we need a lot of other things that we’ve been sending over the last four years to Ukraine,” he remarked.
However, President Zelensky renewed his appeal for the advanced weaponry, stressing its importance in Ukraine’s defence.
“Ukraine has thousands of our production drones, but we don’t have Tomahawks. That’s why we need Tomahawks,” he noted.
The two leaders also expressed differing opinions on President Putin’s intentions.
Trump maintained that the Russian leader ‘wants to end the war’, while Zelensky countered that ‘Putin doesn’t want’ to do so.
A day earlier, the US President spoke with Putin and said they made great progress during the call. He also announced plans to meet the Russian leader in Budapest, Hungary.
He also disclosed that a delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio would hold talks with Russian officials next week to prepare for a second Trump-Putin meeting within three months.
The US President’s previous summit with Putin in Alaska in August ended without an agreement, after which he began adopting a firmer approach towards Moscow.
After brokering a ceasefire in Gaza, the US President has shifted his focus back to the conflict in Ukraine.
When asked whether President Putin might be stalling for time, Trump insisted he was not being outmanoeuvred.
“I’m pretty good at this stuff. I think that he wants to make a deal. I made eight of them. I’m going to make a ninth,” he stated confidently.
Meanwhile, Gregory Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticised Trump’s approach, saying the President had ‘failed to deliver today on providing any support for Ukraine’.
“This isn’t Trump bringing peace through strength; this is weakness through appeasement,” Meeks remarked.
Also Read: Trump Claims India Has ‘De-escalated’ Russian Oil Purchases During Talks With Zelensky
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