Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described his meeting with Donald Trump at the White House yesterday as “productive“, it practically did not bring any positive results for Kiev.
One of the main topics of conversation between the two presidents was the possibility of the US providing Ukraine with high-precision “Tomahawk“ cruise missiles. Trump, however, did not confirm that such a deal would be reached, but on the contrary: he said that such a move could be viewed by Vladimir Putin as an “escalation“.
“[Giving “Tomahawk“ missiles] to Ukraine could mean a greater escalation, a lot of bad things could happen. The United States needs them too, and we don't want to give up things that we need to defend our country“, Trump said, without revealing what “bad things“ could happen in Ukraine.
The American president also dealt another blow to Ukraine, even greater than his reluctance to provide missiles to the country to defend itself from Russian aggression. He said that Zelensky and Putin should stop the war now where they are. "Let both declare victory, history will decide," Trump wrote on Truth Social after the meeting at the White House.
The Russian army currently occupies nearly 1/5 of Ukraine's territory, including Crimea. With these words, Trump hinted that he would not help Kiev regain its lands, but instead would strive for a quick but short-lived peace.
The Ukrainian UNIAN agency also confirmed that Trump expressed his desire to end the war without having to provide "Tomahawk" missiles to Ukrainian forces, fearing Putin's response.
Trump and Putin are expected to hold another meeting in two weeks, this time in Budapest. Their meeting in Alaska did not yield any results, on the contrary - Russia continued to carry out massive attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Trump's efforts to stop the war so far have been unsuccessful. There are no indications that the end is near. Or at least one with fair terms for Ukraine. Because the aggressor may consider this an escalation.