High-stakes negotiations between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump were held on Friday in response to the latter’s repeated attacks on the president of Ukraine. The US’s long-term support for Kyiv, an ally in the war with Russia, is under scrutiny in light of the impending US election.
Foreign policy hawks, who doubt US financing for Kyiv while continuously endorsing Russian President Vladimir Putin, have expressed concerns that a second Trump term would be catastrophic for Ukraine’s security.
Zelensky had met Trump’s election rival Kamala Harris, as well as President Joe Biden, on Thursday in Washington and both pledged their support for Ukraine.
Trump — who this week accused Zelensky of refusing to “make a deal” to end the conflict — vowed to bring peace if he wins a second term in office as the two men addressed reporters after their tete-a-tete at Trump Tower in New York.
“It’s a shame but this is a war that should have never happened and we’ll get it solved. It is a complicated puzzle,” Trump said. “Too many people dead. Too many beautiful cities.”
Before the meeting, which lasted less than an hour, the former US president had hailed his alliance with Zelensky but added: “I also have a very good relationship — as you know — with President Putin.”
Zelensky responded that the pair shared a “common view that the war in Ukraine has to be stopped” and that it is imperative that Ukraine prevail.
Later in a post on X, Zelensky described the meeting as “very productive.”
“I presented him our Victory Plan, and we thoroughly reviewed the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the war for our people,” Zelensky wrote. “Many details were discussed. I am grateful for this meeting. A just peace is needed.”
The meeting initially looked like it would be scrapped after Zelensky told The New Yorker magazine that Trump “doesn’t really know how to stop the war” and that his running mate J.D. Vance is “too radical.”
The interview was published amid outcry over the Ukrainian leader’s trip to Pennsylvania, a critical US election battleground, with Democratic politicians to thank US workers for manufacturing ammunition that is helping Kyiv’s war effort against Moscow.
House Republicans have launched investigations into the trip, suggesting it amounted to election interference, and calling for Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington to be fired.
Trump, who refused to say whether he wants Ukraine to defeat Russia during his debate with Harris earlier this month, hit back at Zelensky at a campaign rally Wednesday in North Carolina, berating him as “a man who refuses to make a deal” for peace.
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