Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Washington to meet with Donald Trump. Before the start of the closed negotiations, both leaders briefly spoke to the press, and after the meeting, Zelenskyy held a separate press conference. reports NBC News.
At the press conference, Zelenskyy said that he had not yet received a final answer from the American president on the key question – whether the United States is ready to provide Ukraine with long-range “Tomahawk” missiles.
“Ukraine has thousands of drones, but it does not have Tomahawks. The United States has Tomahawks and other missiles, but they may also have our drones. Therefore, we can work together, we can strengthen American production, ” – the President of Ukraine noted.
According to him, Washington does not want to allow an escalation of the war at the moment, so the discussion of this issue will continue:
“Nobody canceled this topic for negotiations, we have to work on it”.
Zelensky also confirmed that after the meeting with Trump, he had a telephone conversation with European leaders. Answering a journalist’s question about whether Ukraine should stop the war at this stage, he said:
“In the circumstances that exist now, when such a large country is against us, we should stop where we are now”, – Zelensky explained and added that after that you can “start talking”.
Separately, he emphasized that the topic of territories remains the most sensitive:
“The Russians would really like to occupy the entire territory. But before the ceasefire, make some agreements on the territories and other aspects. I think it is important to take the first step – ceasefire”.
Zelensky noted that the issue of territories will certainly be raised during future negotiations with Russia.
At the same time, Donald Trump shared his impressions of the meeting with the President of Ukraine:
“The meeting with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky was very interesting and cordial. But I told him – as he had previously strongly advised President Putin, – that it was time to stop the killing and make a deal! Enough blood has been shed on the borders drawn by war and courage. Let them stop where they stand. Let both declare victory – and history will judge! Thousands of people are being killed every week – enough! Go home to your families in peace”.
Let us recall that on the eve of the meeting with the President of Ukraine, Donald Trump had a two-hour conversation with Vladimir Putin. The call took place at the initiative of the Kremlin.
As a result of the negotiations, an agreement was reached to hold a summit in Hungary. Trump announced that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would be involved in preparing the meeting. The American delegation will also include Vice President J.D. Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump noted that the main goal of the upcoming summit is “to try to end this inglorious war”. At the same time, he did not disclose details. According to him, the conversation with Putin was “very productive”, and Putin himself allegedly congratulated him on “achieving peace in the Middle East”.
