US President Donald Trump said that during a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House he urged him to reach an agreement to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
“My meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was very interesting and cordial, but I told him, as I told Putin, that it is time to stop the killing and make a deal“, Trump wrote in Truth Social.
Trump has told Zelensky that at least for now he does not intend to deliver Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, Axios reported, citing its sources.
According to them, the US leader has made it clear that his priority now is diplomacy and that the delivery of missiles could undermine it.
At the beginning of the meeting, Trump said that Washington itself needs Tomahawk missiles and some other weapons supplied to Kiev.
The United States would prefer a situation in which Ukraine does not need Tomahawks at all, Trump stressed and said that his administration "is committed to maintaining a stockpile" of weapons in American warehouses. "You never know what can happen in war or peace, right?", the US president said.
"We will talk about Tomahawks and we would prefer that they did not need them. Frankly, we would prefer that this conflict end, because we are in this to end the conflict," said the host at the White House.
He said he had called on Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to stop their troops at the current line of contact, the White House press office said.
After arriving in Florida on Friday, Trump told reporters that he had called on the parties to the Ukrainian conflict to cease fire and "follow the front lines, wherever they are, or things will get very complicated." "Stop right there at the front lines," the White House press office quoted Trump as saying.
He did not confirm that he still believed Ukraine could return to its former borders.
Reporters reminded the US leader that a few weeks ago in New York he had admitted the possibility that Ukraine could return to its former borders. "You never know. You know, war is very interesting. You never know," Trump said.
In In response to a reporter's question, the US president acknowledged that Russia was trying to buy time in the process of resolving the Ukraine crisis.
Trump was asked if he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin was “buying time“. “Yes, I do. Maybe he'll buy some time, it's no big deal“, Trump said, expressing confidence that the Russian leader “wants to make a deal“.
Trump called Hungary “a “safe place” to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“We like Viktor Orban. He likes him, I like him. It's a safe country, they're doing a very good job“, Trump said when asked to explain his choice of location for the upcoming meeting with the Russian president.
“He's a very good leader in terms of running the country. He has no many of the problems that other countries have. That's why we decided to choose Viktor Orban and I think he will welcome us very well“, emphasized the American president.
“It's very difficult for them to get oil. I understand that. Hungary is in a very interesting position because they can't have ports; they're landlocked. They're in a difficult position because they have a pipeline that's been in operation for many years“, emphasized Trump and noted that he had discussed this issue with Orban. “I spoke to a wonderful leader of Hungary“, said Trump. The Russian-American summit in Budapest could be a two-way meeting, said the American leader, explaining that contact with Zelensky is possible. He added that “Zelensky will be in touch“, but did not specify who will be in touch with whom.
“India will no longer buy Russian oil“, the American leader believes.
“India, however, will not buy oil from Russia. They have already reduced them and more or less stopped. They are moving away. They bought 38% of India's oil imports from Russia and they will not do so anymore“, Trump said.
The American president said that plans for his meeting with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea in the next few weeks remain in place.
Trump expressed interest in the project to build a tunnel under the Bering Strait, which would connect Russia and the United States by rail.
After the meeting with the American leader, Ukrainian President Zelensky spoke to journalists.
“Of course, we also discussed long-range missiles and I don't want to make any statements on this issue. We decided not to talk about it because the United States does not want escalation,“ he said.
He also discussed security guarantees for Ukraine with Trump. Zelensky, however, did not specify whether the parties had managed to reach an agreement.
Zelensky identified the issue of Ukrainian territory as a topic of the upcoming peace talks with Russia, describing it as complex.
“The issue of territory is sensitive and extremely complex. The most complex issues in any negotiations, in any format, will be about territories. Unfortunately, they are for Ukrainian territories“, Zelensky said after his conversation with the US president.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, several other European leaders and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had a telephone conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky, during which he informed them about his meeting with US President Donald Trump.
This was announced to reporters by German Cabinet spokesman Stefan Cornelius.
“German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, together with other European heads of state and government, as well as the NATO Secretary General and the heads of EU institutions, had a telephone conversation this evening with Volodymyr Zelensky“, noted Cornelius. He added that Zelensky informed his European partners “about his constructive meeting with US President Donald Trump“. “German Chancellor Merz and his partners welcomed this close transatlantic cooperation and stressed the urgency of efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine“, the German government spokesman said.
According to Cornelius, European leaders “have promised Zelensky to expand their support to encourage Russia to engage in serious negotiations“. “This includes stepping up sanctions pressure under the 19th EU sanctions package and using frozen Russian state assets“, the German cabinet spokesman said.
Merz said that after Zelensky's meeting with Trump, European leaders “have coordinated their actions and will closely monitor further steps“. "Ukraine needs a peace plan now," the German chancellor wrote on her Facebook page.
On October 17, Trump met with Zelensky at the White House, discussing arms supplies to Ukraine and the upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the American leader in Budapest.