Donald Trump said he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and claims he will be able to reach a deal to end the brutal war with Russia.
“I think I’ll be able to reach a deal between President Putin and President Zelensky pretty quickly,” Trump predicted during remarks to reporters at Trump Tower on Thursday.
“I think I can figure that out,” Trump said. “It’s not my fight, but it’s a fight to save humanity.”
At the same time, Trump complained about the burden on the United States to finance the defense of Ukraine. ‘They should be equalizing. “They should start paying,” Trump said.
Although the United States has sent billions in military aid, Europe has now surpassed the United States in support commitments, according to the Kiel Institute.
“I see what’s happening there is very, very sad,” Trump said. He also questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ comment criticizing proposals that would see Ukraine cede territory to Russian invaders.
‘Let’s be clear, these are not peace proposals. Rather, they are proposals for surrender,” Harris said.
Former President Donald Trump said on the eve of his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky that he believes he can “make a deal” to end the war in Ukraine.
“It’s not a surrender,” Trump said when asked about the criticism. His planned meeting with Zelensky comes after Trump’s Republican allies complained that parts of his trip amounted to “election interference,” a growing partisan divide over Ukraine.
“Putin never even thought about going in, and it was the apple of his eye,” Trump said, referring to the 2022 invasion, which came after Russia invaded the Donbas region in 2014.
He said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin “had a very good relationship, despite the Russia, Russia, Russia deception,” he said, referring to the Russia investigation.
When asked by a reporter if Ukraine should give up some of its own territory to end the war, Trump responded: “We’ll see what happened.”
‘Let’s have some peace. We need peace. We need to stop the death and destruction. Don’t you think? he concluded.
Trump’s confirmation of a meeting came shortly after he posted on X that Zelensky was seeking a meeting with him, in the latest communication between the two men to become public in a complex relationship.
Trump has long defended the “perfect” call he had with Zelensky in 2019, in which he asked him to “investigate” allegations about Hunter Biden and asked him for a “favor” by investigating the 2016 election that led to his first trial. political.
The message, which Trump posted without explanation, is titled “Denys Sienik, Deputy Ambassador of Ukraine” and is signed simply “Volodymyr.”
“Dear Donald, I hope you’re okay,” he says, referencing a “really good phone call.”
The leader whose country is fighting a Russian invasion and refers to a request for a meeting between the two men in New York. He defends his point of view on a “just peace” and says: “I always speak with great respect about everything that is related to you.”
Trump dropped the message just as Zelensky appeared with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Vice President Harris on Thursday
Zelensky also met with President Joe Biden, whose administration is sending billions in military aid to Ukraine before the end of the year.
Trump will sit down with his former phone partner at a time when his allies in the Republican Senate are furious about Zelensky’s recent trip to Pennsylvania, where the Ukrainian leader appeared with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and signed 155mm munitions that a American factory is sending to defend their country.
“Zelensky is openly campaigning for Democrats in battleground Pennsylvania today, about 50 days before our presidential election. Unreal,” posted Republican Senator Eric Schmitt (Missouri).
House Speaker Mike Johnson, another Trump ally, said the move was “designed to help Democrats” and called it “election interference.”
Zelensky in an interview with the New Yorker called Vance “too radical” and said: “The idea that the world should end this war at the expense of Ukraine is unacceptable.”
In his debate with Harris, Trump dodged the question when asked directly if he wanted Ukraine to win its war against Russia. ‘I want the war to stop. “I want to save lives,” Trump said.
And on Wednesday, at a rally in North Carolina, Trump said Ukraine should have “given up a little bit.”
“We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelensky,” Trump said.
Zelensky also met with President Biden to discuss his “victory plan,” and the United States announced new measures to send billions in military aid to kyiv by the end of the year, after Congress failed to enact new authority.
Biden on Thursday announced plans to send $8 billion in additional U.S. aid to Ukraine. But it has resisted Ukraine’s request to be able to fire U.S.-made missiles deeper into Russia.