WASHINGTON (AP) — The President donald trump Scheduled to welcome the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to meet with US leaders at the White House on Friday. let him know he’s not ready Agreed to sell Kiev long-range missile systems that Ukrainians desperately need.
Mr Zelensky will speak one-on-one with Mr Trump a day after the US president and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a lengthy telephone conversation to discuss the conflict.
The past few days President Trump showed generosity to sell ukraine Long-range cruise missile “Tomahawk”Despite President Putin’s warning that such a move would further strain U.S.-Russian relations.
But the following Telephone conversation with President Putin on ThursdayPresident Trump appears to be downplaying the possibility that Ukraine will acquire missiles with a range of about 995 miles (about 1,600 kilometers).
President Trump said, “We need the Tomahawk for America.” “We have a lot of them, but we need them. That means we can’t run our country dry.”
Mr. Zelensky, looking for weapons This would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and target key military positions, energy facilities, and critical infrastructure. Mr. Zelensky argued that such attacks would help make Mr. Putin take more seriously Mr. Trump’s call for direct negotiations to end the war.
However, according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Putin warned Trump in a telephone conversation that providing Tomahawks to Kiev “will not change the situation on the battlefield, but it will cause serious damage to bilateral relations.”
This is the fourth face-to-face meeting between President Trump and Zelensky since the Republican returned to power in January, and the second in less than a month.
After Thursday’s call with Putin, President Trump announced that he would soon meet with the Russian leader in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss ways to end the war. The two men also agreed that senior aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will meet next week at an unspecified location.
Just started mediating Ceasefire and hostage agreement Between Israel and Hamas, President Trump said finding an end to the Ukraine war is now his top foreign policy priority and expressed renewed confidence in the prospects for its completion.
Ahead of his phone call with President Putin, President Trump had shown signs of growing dissatisfaction with the Russian leader.
Last month, he announced that he believed Ukraine could regain all the territory lost to Russia, a dramatic change from the U.S. leader’s repeated stance. ask Kyiv for concessions To end the war.
Trump looks back on his 2024 election campaign. he claimed to end the war immediatelyBut his peace efforts appeared to stall after suffering a major diplomatic setback in August. Summit meeting with President Putin alaska and Meeting with Zelensky at the White House and European allies.
These meetings convinced President Trump that he was on track to arrange a direct meeting between President Zelensky and President Putin. However, Russian leaders have shown no interest in meeting with President Zelensky, and the Russian government has only stepped up its shelling of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, President Trump struck a strikingly neutral tone regarding Ukraine following his “very productive” meeting with President Putin.
He also suggested that negotiations between Putin and Zelensky may have to be conducted indirectly.
President Trump said, “Those two don’t get along very well.” “So maybe we can do something even though we’re apart. We’re equal even though we’re apart.”
