- Zelenskiy’s visit was aimed at acquiring weapons to support the war with Russia.
- Trump appears more committed to brokering a peace deal between the two sides.
- The US and Ukrainian presidents discuss the call between Russians Putin and Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy came to the White House on Friday in search of weapons to continue his country’s war with Russia, but he met with a U.S. president who appears more intent on brokering a peace deal than improving Ukraine’s arsenal.
Although U.S. President Donald Trump has not ruled out providing the long-range Tomahawk missiles sought by Zelenskiy, Trump appeared calm about the prospect as he eyed a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hungary in the coming weeks.
The two leaders then met behind closed doors where they also discussed a call the day before between the Russian president and Trump, who has presented himself as a mediator between the warring forces despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
‘Have a little understanding’
“I think President Zelenskiy wants it done, and I think President Putin wants it done. They just have to get along a little bit,” Trump told reporters.
Zelenskiy, however, stressed how difficult it has been trying to achieve a ceasefire. “We want this. Putin doesn’t want this,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader was blunt, telling Trump that Ukraine has thousands of drones ready to launch an offensive against Russian targets, but it needs American missiles.
“We don’t have Tomahawks, that’s why we need Tomahawks,” he said.
Trump responded: “We would much prefer that they didn’t need Tomahawks. »
Trump later reiterated that he wanted the United States to keep its weapons. “We want Tomahawks too. We don’t want to give away the things we need to protect our country,” he said.
After the meeting, which Zelenskiy called productive, he told reporters he did not want to talk about long-range missiles, saying the United States did not want escalation and that he was “realistic” about its chances of getting them.
The Ukrainian president, who spoke by telephone with European leaders after the meeting, said he was counting on Trump to pressure Putin “to stop this war.”
Asked about Trump’s comments, Zelenskiy said: “The president (Trump) is right, and we have to stop where we are. It’s important, to stop where we are, and then speak.”
Return to the table
It is unclear what exactly Putin said to Trump that prompted him to agree to the upcoming meeting. Their August summit in Alaska ended prematurely without any major breakthroughs.
The Kremlin said much remained to be decided and that the summit could take place “a little later” than the two-week time frame Trump cited.
Trump’s conciliatory tone after the call with Putin raised questions about the near-term likelihood of aid to Ukraine and reignited European fears about a deal that would suit Russia. A European Union spokesperson said it would welcome the talks if they could help bring peace to Ukraine.
Trump was asked Friday if he was concerned that Putin would “play” with him to buy time by agreeing to talks.
“You know, I’ve been played my whole life by the best of them, and I did very well, so it’s possible,” Trump responded.
Michael Carpenter, a former U.S. official who is now a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the meeting with Trump was not what Zelenskiy hoped for, but was consistent with the administration’s approach to war.
“The underlying reality is that there is no tendency to impose costs on Russia,” he said.
The president has expressed affection for Zelenskiy, at one point praising him for wearing what Trump called a “very stylish” dark suit jacket after he was hit earlier this year for visiting the White House without wearing one.
“He looks great in his jacket,” Trump said. “I hope people notice.”
The war intensified
Trump, who campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, is eager to add to the list of conflicts he says he helped end.
More than three and a half years after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has made some territorial gains this year, but Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Thursday that the Russian offensive had failed.
Putin said this month that his forces had taken nearly 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles) of land in Ukraine in 2025, equivalent to adding 1% of Ukrainian territory to the nearly 20% already held.
Both sides have also stepped up attacks on each other’s energy systems, and Russian drones and planes have strayed into NATO countries.
Analysts see negotiations as delaying tactic
The White House in recent days appeared increasingly frustrated with Putin and was leaning toward giving Zelenskiy new support, including Tomahawk missiles that the Ukrainians say would help them inflict more damage on the Russian war machine.
After Friday’s talks, Zelenskiy said Russia was “afraid” of the Tomahawks. Moscow has warned that the supply of such missiles would constitute a serious escalation.
Putin’s move appears aimed at making the U.S. transfer of such weapons less likely, said Max Bergmann, a Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Mykola Bielieskov, a senior analyst at Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization that is a major supplier of military equipment to Ukraine’s armed forces, said the Tomahawk missiles would level the playing field that is tilted in Russia’s favor.
“We do not expect Russia to collapse after one, two or three successful strikes,” Bielieskov said. “But it’s about pressure, constant pressure. It’s about disrupting the military-industrial complex.”
