The meeting started late, as it was scheduled to start at 19. Journalists gathered outside the White House shouted questions about ending the war in Ukraine, but neither leader responded, and then they went inside.
The meeting is different from previous ones because there is no part when both presidents meet in the Oval Office and answer questions from reporters. This time, the formula of a working lunch was chosen.
Donald Trump: I think we’re making great progress
Table of Contents
- Donald Trump: I think we’re making great progress
- “I like Viktor Orban”
- Volodymyr Zelensky: NATO is the best guarantee, but weapons are no less important
- What about Tomahawks for Ukraine?
- Donald Trump referred to the Nobel Peace Prize
- Volodymyr Zelensky met with representatives of Tomahawk manufacturers
— We have very good relations. Yesterday we had a very good conversation with President Putin. We will talk about it. President Zelensky persevered a lot and we did it together with him. I think we’ve made great progress, we’ll talk about it today, said Donald Trump before the talks began.
“I think things are going pretty well.” “It started in Alaska, where some guidelines were discussed and we want to see if we can do it,” he added. – We want to end this. So many people died in this war. We will make it end, Trump said.
Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke, thanking him for the invitation and congratulating Trump on achieving a ceasefire in the Middle East. — This is the moment to end the Russian war against Ukraine. We understand perfectly well that Putin is not ready, but he is convinced that with your help we can end this, Zelensky said. He added that Russia is not making progress on the front and is losing many soldiers.
Donald Trump praised Volodymyr Zelensky for his outfit. — I think he looks very good in the jacket. It’s very stylish, I like it, he said.
“I like Viktor Orban”
Journalists asked Trump why he chose Hungary for the meeting with Putin and whether the Ukrainian president would join them. — I like Viktor Orban and he likes me. This is a country that is safe, they have done very well. He solved a number of problems that other countries have, so we decided to meet with Viktor Orban, Trump replied. He added that it is most likely that this will be a meeting only between him and Putin. – These two [Putin i Zełenski] They don’t particularly like each other, he said.
— I think Putin wants to end the war. Yesterday I talked to him for 2.5 hours. We have worked out many details, said the American president.
Donald Trump was asked about the issue of Russian oil that Hungary still buys. — In a sense, they have nothing to do. They have had one pipeline for years, they are a country in the interior, they have no sea. I talked to the great leader of Hungary and it is very difficult for them. I understand that. We’ll see what comes of it, said the American leader.
Volodymyr Zelensky: NATO is the best guarantee, but weapons are no less important
Volodymyr Zelensky was asked by journalists whether he was ready to make concessions to end the war. “I think we need to sit down and talk.” Secondly, we need a ceasefire. We want peace, Putin does not want peace, so we need to put pressure on him, Zelensky said. — We know what we need to put pressure on Putin and get him to the negotiating table. We are ready to talk in any format, it doesn’t matter. Peace is important. We are not talking about NATO or not here, for Ukrainians it is of course very important. Of course, it will be our decision and the allies’ where we stand. But the most important thing for the Ukrainian people, who are attacked every day, is a really strong security guarantee, Zelensky said.
— NATO is the best, but weapons are no less important. For us, the bilateral security guarantees between me and President Trump are extremely important, he added.
— I think we have an important dialogue. We started to understand each other. I know that the president is very well informed about the situation on the battlefield and knows a lot about what is happening in Ukraine, said Zelensky when asked about his relations with Donald Trump. “It helps a lot,” he added.
— I think Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin are doing great [w negocjacjach]. They don’t like each other, they have a lot of bad blood, which makes it impossible to reach an agreement, but we will do it. (…) Just like in the Middle East, (…) where people didn’t think it could be done – said Donald Trump.
What about Tomahawks for Ukraine?
Donald Trump suggested on Thursday, after a telephone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, that there would be no sale of these missiles. He argued that the US needed them and could not exhaust its supplies.
Trump spoke in a similar tone on Friday during his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky. — We need Tomahawks, we need many other things that we have been sending to Ukraine for four years. It’s not a matter of money. (…) I hope that we will be able to end this war without thinking about Tomahawks. I think we are quite close to that, said the American president.
Ukrainian MP Yehor Chernev said before the meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would not discuss the sale of Tomahawk guided missiles with US President Donald Trump. This issue has been postponed until Trump’s meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, which is scheduled to take place in Hungary in the coming weeks.
Donald Trump referred to the Nobel Peace Prize
During a conversation with journalists, Donald Trump again said that he had “solved eight wars.” — Every time I do something, they forget what I’ve already done. I resolved eight conflicts. (…) Every time they say that if I solve the next one, I will receive the Nobel Peace Prize. I didn’t get the Nobel Prize. Some very nice woman got it, I don’t know who she is, but she’s definitely very nice. I don’t care about that. I care about saving people, Trump said.
Volodymyr Zelensky met with representatives of Tomahawk manufacturers
At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that in Washington he met with representatives of Raytheon, which produces the Patriot systems and Tomahawk missiles, and Lockheed Martin. The talks concerned strengthening Ukrainian air defense and Ukraine’s needs.
“We discussed the production capabilities of Raytheon, possible directions of our cooperation to strengthen air defense and increase Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, and the prospects for Ukrainian-American production. There are solutions that can strengthen the protection of life in Ukraine. We are working at all levels to ensure their implementation,” Zelensky wrote in the Telegram messenger.
He added that at the meeting he informed his interlocutors about the current situation in Ukraine, in particular that Russia is not achieving its goals and is therefore intensifying attacks on civilian infrastructure and the population of Ukraine, especially the energy system, using over 500 drones and dozens of missiles a day.
“We discussed the prospects for cooperation and the possibilities of increasing Ukraine’s protection against Russian aggression. I talked about Ukraine’s specific needs in the field of air defense systems and missiles, as well as F-16 aircraft,” Zelensky noted.
According to the Ukrainian president, Russia is attacking Ukraine more and more brutally before winter arrives and his country needs strengthened anti-aircraft defense now.
