Washington [US], October 19: US President Donald Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reach a deal with Russia, dashing Kyiv's hopes for Tomahawk missiles, as Trump renewed his push to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the White House on Tuesday afternoon to seek more weapons for his fight against Russia, but met with a US president who appeared more interested in brokering a peace deal than upgrading Kyiv's arsenal, according to Reuters. The meeting came a day after President Trump said he had a "very productive" new phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two leaders would meet in Hungary in two weeks.
"End the conflict immediately"
President Trump had more than two hours of talks with President Zelensky at the White House. Mr. Trump shared on the social network Truth Social that the talks "were very interesting and cordial, but I told him, as I strongly suggested to President Putin, that it was time to stop the killing and make a deal." Mr. Trump also wrote: "They should stop right where they are. Let them both claim victory and let history decide!"
President Trump then called on both sides to "end the conflict immediately," even if it meant Ukraine had to cede territory, according to Reuters. "If it stops at the front lines, both sides should go home, go back to their families, stop the killing," Trump told reporters.
The comments represent another shift in Trump's stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict , according to AP. In recent weeks, he has shown growing impatience with Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win its conflict with Russia. After meeting Zelensky in New York City last month, Trump even said he believed Ukraine could reclaim all of its territory from Russia. Trump had previously insisted that Ukraine would have to cede territory controlled by Russia to end the conflict.
Mr. Zelensky's reaction
Asked about President Trump's latest comments, President Zelensky replied: "The president is right, and we must stop where we are. It is important to stop where we are, and then we will talk." However, Mr. Zelensky noted that trying to achieve a ceasefire is very difficult, according to Reuters.
President Zelensky was blunt when he told President Trump that Ukraine had thousands of drones ready for an attack on Russian targets, but still needed US missiles. "We don't have Tomahawks, that's why we need Tomahawks," Mr. Zelensky emphasized after the talks.
"We'd rather they didn't need Tomahawks," Trump responded. Trump then reiterated that he wanted the US to keep its weapons. "We want Tomahawks too. We don't want to give away what we need to defend our country," Trump said. Trump had previously expressed openness to selling Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, even as Putin warned that such a move would increase US-Russia tensions.
Still, Mr. Zelensky said the door was not closed. "It's good that President Trump didn't say no, but today he didn't say yes," Mr. Zelensky said in an interview with NBC News. However, Mr. Zelensky said he did not want to discuss long-range missiles, saying the United States did not want to escalate tensions.
As of the afternoon of October 18, there was no information about Russia's reaction to the new statements of Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
