Trump and Zelenskyy hold talks, as US leader signals hesitancy over Tomahawks
The Ukrainian president congratulated the US leader over landing last week’s ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza (Alex Brandon/AP)
Donald Trump is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks at the White House, with the US leader signalling he is not ready to agree to sell Kyiv a long-range missile system that the Ukrainians say they desperately need.
Mr Zelenskyy arrived with top aides to discuss the latest developments with Mr Trump over lunch, a day after the US president and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held a lengthy phone call to discuss the conflict.
At the start of the talks, Mr Zelenskyy congratulated Mr Trump over last week’s ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza and said the US president has “momentum” to stop the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“President Trump now has a big chance to finish this war,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
Mr Zelenskyy also suggested he had come with a “proposition” in which Ukraine could provide the United States with its advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Mr Trump said he believed Ukraine was manufacturing “very good” drones but expressed reluctance about tapping into the US Tomahawk supply.
“I have an obligation also to make sure that we’re completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what’s going to happen in war and peace,” Mr Trump said.
In recent days, Mr Trump had shown an openness to selling Ukraine long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, even as Mr Putin warned that such a move would further strain the US-Russian relationship.
But following Thursday’s call with Mr Putin, Mr Trump appeared to downplay the prospects of Ukraine getting the missiles, which have a range of about 995 miles (1,600km).
“We need Tomahawks for the United States of America too,” Mr Trump said.
“We have a lot of them, but we need them. I mean, we can’t deplete our country.”
Mr Zelenskyy had been seeking the weapons, which would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and target key military sites, energy facilities and critical infrastructure.
He has argued that the potential for such strikes would help compel Mr Putin to take Mr Trump’s calls for direct negotiations to end the war more seriously.
But Mr Putin warned Mr Trump during the call that supplying Kyiv with the Tomahawks “won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but would cause substantial damage to the relationship between our countries”, according to Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putin’s foreign policy adviser.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said that talk of providing Tomahawks had already served a purpose by pushing Mr Putin into talks.
“The conclusion is that we need to continue with strong steps. Strength can truly create momentum for peace,” Mr Sybiha said on X on Thursday.
Ukrainian officials have also indicated that Mr Zelenskyy plans to appeal to Mr Trump’s economic interests by aiming to discuss the possibility of energy deals with the US.
Mr Zelenskyy is expected to offer to store American liquefied natural gas in Ukraine’s gas storage facilities, which would allow for an American presence in the European energy market.
He previewed the strategy on Thursday in meetings with energy secretary Chris Wright and the heads of American energy companies, leading him to post on X that it was important to restore Ukraine’s energy infrastructure after Russian attacks and expand “the presence of American businesses in Ukraine”.
It was the fourth face-to-face meeting for Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy since the Republican returned to office in January, and their second in less than a month.
Mr Trump announced following Thursday’s call with Mr Putin that he would soon meet with the Russian leader in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss ways to end the war.
The two also agreed that their senior aides, including secretary of state Marco Rubio, would meet next week at an unspecified location.
Fresh off brokering a ceasefire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas, Mr Trump has said finding an endgame to the war in Ukraine is now his top foreign policy priority and has expressed new confidence about the prospects of getting it done.
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