Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Donald Trump on Friday at the White House to discuss the potential transfer of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
At the center of the talks was a proposal in which Ukraine would provide the United States with advanced drones in exchange for Tomahawk missiles. Trump expressed hesitation about the deal, emphasizing the need to maintain U.S. stockpiles.
“We need Tomahawks for the United States of America too,” he said. “We have a lot of them, but we need them.” Trump said that sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine “could mean bigger escalation, a lot of bad things can happen.”
At the start of the meeting, Zelensky congratulated Trump on his recent Middle East peace deal, saying, “I think this is momentum to finish Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
Trump voiced confidence in his ability to help end the conflict, saying both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky want to see the war concluded.
The meeting came a day after Trump said he had a “very productive” phone call with Putin. In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced that meetings between senior Russian and American advisers are expected next week. Trump also wrote that a summit between him and Putin will take place in Budapest, Hungary, aimed at bringing what he called the “inglorious” war between Russia and Ukraine to an end. The timing of the summit remains unclear.
Trump suggested Friday that Zelensky may be involved in the upcoming talks in Budapest, saying, “Most likely it will be a double meeting.” He added that the Ukrainian and Russian presidents would likely not meet face to face.
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