Donald Trump has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy face to face after the former US president complained this week the Ukrainian leader was “refusing” to do a deal to end the war with Russia.
As he stood next to Mr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower in New York, the Republican presidential candidate said on Friday he would work with both countries to end the conflict.
Following days of questions over whether the pair would sit down together, Mr Trump praised the Ukrainian president, saying he had a “very good relationship” with him, but added he also had a “very good relationship” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
During their first meeting since 2019, Mr Zelenskyy said he hoped they would continue to have a good relationship. “It takes two to tango, and we will,” Mr Trump responded.
Mr Trump was asked by a reporter if Ukraine could win the war, to which he replied: “Sure. They could.”
He also said “if we win [the election], I think we’re going to get it [the war] resolved very quickly”.
“We’re going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled and get it worked out.”
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Mr Zelenskyy said: “I think we have a common view that the war in Ukraine has to be stopped and Putin can’t win.”
The meeting comes as Mr Trump has been pushing for Ukraine to make a deal to end the full-scale conflict which began in February 2022.
He was asked during a news conference in Trump Tower on Thursday if Ukraine should give up territory to which he replied, “we’ll see what happens” and “we need peace”.
‘Little nasty aspersions’
On Wednesday, Mr Trump complained at an event in Charlotte, North Carolina, that “we continue to give billions of dollars to a man [Mr Zelenskyy] who refuses to make a deal” to end the fighting.
Also this week, Mr Trump said the Ukrainian president was “making little nasty aspersions toward your favourite president, me”, and described Mr Zelenskyy as “the greatest salesman on Earth” for securing US support.
Mr Trump also referred to Ukraine as “demolished” and its people as “dead”.
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Harris criticism
During a meeting at the White House between Mr Zelenskyy and Kamala Harris on Thursday, the US vice president hit out at opponents making “proposals for surrender” in Ukraine – making a thinly veiled criticism of Mr Trump.
Hinting at her rival’s recent comments saying Ukraine should have taken “a bad deal,” Ms Harris added: “They are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender.
“The US cannot and should not isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. Isolation is not insulation.”
The Democratic presidential candidate also expressed unwavering support for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden announced more than $8bn (£6bn) in new military aid to help Kyiv “win this war”.
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Mr Zelenskyy has used his US visit to promote his “victory plan,” which an American official described as a repackaged request for more weapons and a lifting of restrictions on the use of Western-made long-range missiles against targets in Russia.
In Washington DC, he presented the Biden administration and Congress with his plans for reaching an endgame in the war by improving Ukraine’s chances on the battlefield and having leverage at the negotiating table.
He has also addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week and has been making his pitch to allies.
There are concerns about Ukraine’s future and how the outcome of this November’s US election could greatly impact the war’s fate, with disagreements in Congress about whether to continue providing aid to Ukraine.
