Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his war “victory plan” to Donald Trump during a closed-door meeting on Friday, after the Republican presidential candidate said he would work with both Ukraine and Russia to end their conflict.
The meeting between the two at Trump Tower in Manhattan was their first in-person meeting since 2019.
Zelensky said he was speaking with both Trump and his Democratic rival in the Nov. 5 election, Vice President Kamala Harris. because Ukraine needed strong support from the United States in its war with Russia.
Trump praised Zelensky, but said he also had a strong relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We have a very good relationship (with Zelensky), and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin,” Trump told reporters. “And I think if we win, I think we’re going to figure it out very quickly,” he added.
Zelensky has taken advantage of his visit to the United States to promote his “victory plan,” which one US official described as a repackaged call for more weapons and a lifting of restrictions on the use of long-range missiles.
The plan presupposes Russia’s final defeat in the warsaid the official. Some officials consider the goal unrealistic.
When asked by a journalist on Thursday whether Ukraine should hand over part of the Ukrainian territory captured by Russia to end the war – something impossible for Kiev – Trump responded: “We’ll see what happens.”
At one point in the press conference prior to Friday’s meeting, when Zelensky suggested that he had a better relationship with Trump than Putin had, Trump responded: “Yes, but you know it takes two to tango.”
Still, Trump said Friday that he was delighted to meet with Zelensky, a marked change in tone from some of his previous comments during the election campaign.. After the meeting, Zelensky called his conversations with Trump “very productive.”
On Monday, Trump said Zelensky wanted Harris to win the election. He has also called Zelensky “the biggest salesman of all time” because his country has received billions of dollars in military aid from the United States and Europe.
