President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to leave a White House meeting empty-handed after US President Donald Trump said he was not ready to supply Ukraine with sought-after Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Zelensky said after a cordial bilateral conversation that he and Trump had talked about long-range missiles but decided not to make a statement on the issue “because the United States does not want escalation.”
After the meeting, Trump took to social media to urge Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” and end the war.
The meeting between Trump and Zelensky came a day after Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to meet him soon in Hungary.
Zelensky believes that using Tomahawks to attack Russian oil and energy facilities will seriously weaken Putin's military economy.
While Trump hasn't ruled it out, his tone at the White House on Friday was noncommittal.
“I hope they don’t need it, I hope we can end the war without thinking about Tomahawks,” the US president said, adding: “I think we’re pretty close to that.”
He called the weapons a “big deal” and said the United States needed them for its own defense. He also said that deliveries of Tomahawks to Ukraine could mean a further escalation of the conflict, but discussions about sending them will continue.
When asked by the BBC whether the Tomahawks prompted Putin to meet with Trump, the US president replied: “The threat of this [the missiles] this is good, but the threat of this is always there.”
The Ukrainian leader suggested his country might offer drones in exchange for Tomahawks, prompting smiles and nods from Trump.
Zelensky also praised Trump for his role in securing the first phase of the Middle East peace deal, suggesting the US leader could use that momentum to help end Russia's war in Ukraine.
After the meeting, a reporter outside the White House asked Zelensky whether he thought Putin wanted an agreement or was simply buying time for a planned meeting with Trump in Budapest.
“I don’t know,” he said, adding that the prospect of Ukraine having Tomahawks made Russia “scared because they are powerful weapons.”
Asked if he was leaving Washington more optimistic that Ukraine would receive Tomahawks, he replied: “I’m a realist.”
The Ukrainian leader also appeared to suggest that he would support Trump's proposal to stop the war along the current front line.
“We must stop there, he is right, the president is right,” Zelensky said. He added that the next step is to “talk.”
He later wrote on X that he had called European leaders to share details of the meeting with Trump, adding that “the main priority now is to protect as many lives as possible, guarantee the security of Ukraine and strengthen all of us in Europe.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the conversation with European leaders “productive” and promised that “the UK will continue to send humanitarian aid and military support.”
While Trump has shown openness to the idea of selling Tomahawks in recent days, Putin has warned that such a move would further strain US-Russian relations.
On Thursday, Trump said “great progress” had been made in a call with Putin and the pair had agreed to hold face-to-face talks soon in Hungary, although a date had not yet been set.
Asked by a reporter on Friday if he was concerned that Putin was stalling in agreeing to a new summit, Trump replied: “Yes.”
“But I’ve been played by the best all my life and I’ve done very well. So maybe a little time, that's okay. But I think I'm pretty good at it. I think he wants to make a deal,” he said.
Asked by another reporter Will Zelensky participate in the upcoming talks in Budapest? Trump, seated next to the Ukrainian president, said there was “bad blood” between Putin and Zelensky.
“We want everyone to be comfortable,” Trump said. “We'll be in threes, but it could be split.” He added that the top three “need to get their act together.”
The US president said his conversation with Putin, his first since mid-August, was “very productive”, adding that teams from Washington and Moscow would meet next week.
Trump had hoped a personal summit in Alaska in August would help persuade Putin to enter into comprehensive peace talks to end the war, but the meeting failed to produce a decisive breakthrough.
They spoke again a few days later when Trump interrupted a meeting with Zelensky and European leaders to call Putin.
Back in Ukraine, the BBC spoke on Friday to a couple renovating the small shop they own in the suburbs of Kyiv after it was destroyed by Russian missiles last month.
When store owner Vladimir was asked about Trump's upcoming summit with Putin, he began saying, “We appreciate any support.”
But he walked away, and tears welled up in his eyes. After a long pause, he pulled himself together and started again.
“Truth and democracy will prevail, and all terrorism and evil will disappear,” he said. “We just want to live, we don't want to give up, we just want them to leave us alone.”
