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Volodymyr Zelensky During a White House meeting with Donald Trump on Friday, he suggested that Ukraine could exchange drones for US Tomahawk missiles.
The Ukrainian President said this during a press conference in the Cabinet Room Leaders meet for the second time this year at the White HouseEight months after their fateful encounter in February.
The tone was markedly different as Mr Trump praised Mr Zelensky’s “strengths” as a leader and choice of attire – before answering questions. Possible provision of long range missilesCalled into doubt in wake of Mr Trump’s call Vladimir Putin On Thursday.
Mr Trump insisted he would like to end the war and avoid providing ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, but did not reject the idea outright. He also acknowledged the possibility that he was being played by Mr Putin.
Later, he acknowledged the impact of American weapons. ukrainedefended, telling reporters: “I think so [Mr Putin] The war should have been won in a week, before underscoring the value of American aid”.
Mr Trump stressed throughout the gathering that he believed both Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky wanted to end the war, seeing a chance to end the “ninth” conflict during their presidencies.
When the US leader was asked whether Mr Putin or Mr Zelensky was doing a better job in terms of negotiations, he told reporters he thought both were “doing a very good job”.
He sidestepped the question of whether Ukraine could get all its territory back, after suggesting it earlier this year.
“You never know,” he said. “War is very interesting. You never know, right?”
Mr. Zelensky was careful not to ask too much of his counterpart, but he suggested Ukraine could trade coveted cruise missiles for Ukrainian drones after Mr. Trump said he hoped to end the war without sending any more weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Trump stressed that the US needed to take care of its own stockpile, including Tomahawks, before sending them abroad.
Mr. Zelensky politely asked to intervene, saying there was a range of support in demand, and saying he wanted to work with Mr. Trump to secure Ukraine’s needs and strengthen American production.
Mr. Zelensky pointed out that Ukraine has “thousands” of highly advanced drones developed during the war and suggested Ukraine could trade that domestic technology in exchange for Tomahawks.
Asked by a reporter if he would be interested in such a deal, Mr Trump replied: “We are – yes, we would. We make our own drones, but we also buy drones from others, and they [Ukraine] Make a really cool drone.”
But Mr Trump reiterated he would still like to end the war and later warned that sending him to Ukraine could be interpreted as an “escalation”.
The proposal to reach a deal with Mr Trump on continued US support was one of the few times Mr Zelensky spoke during the press conference.
Ahead of Friday’s summit the focus was on the supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Cruise missiles will increase Ukraine’s deep strike capability Russia,
Before the meeting, Mr Trump suggested he might be willing to provide Tomahawks to Ukraine. However, after the call with Mr Putin, he began emphasizing America’s own needs.
Mr Trump was asked on Friday whether he was concerned Mr Putin was trying to buy more time to prolong the war.
“Yes, I am,” Mr. Trump replied. “But I’ve had the best of them play me my entire life… so it’s possible.”
He added: “I think I’m pretty good at this thing. I think he wants to make a deal. I’ve made eight of them. I’m going to make a ninth.”
Mr Trump also mentioned the impending summit with Mr Putin in Hungary, which was announced after Thursday’s call. No date has been decided yet.
He said he envisioned the meeting in Budapest as a “double meeting” without Mr Zelensky, because “we want to make it comfortable for everyone”.
Mr Trump said talks with Mr Putin would be on the agenda for Friday and the subject of sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would also come up.
Former British Army officer and intelligence expert Colonel Philip Ingram told Independent The provision of Tomahawks would have two values for Ukraine.
“They are very, very accurate and have better stealth capabilities than most other missiles in the Ukrainian arsenal,” he said.
But more importantly, the political value will be in sending a very clear message to Putin that the US is committed to Ukraine and is upset about it. Russia,