Former President Donald Trump on Friday told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting in New York City that, if reelected, he believes he could end the Russia-Ukraine war with a resolution that’s “good for both sides.”
“We have a very good relationship. I also have a very good relationship with President Putin and you know, I think if we win, we’re going to get it resolved very quickly,” Trump said.
While speaking with reporters and standing next to Zelensky, Trump added, “At some point, [the war] has to end. [Zelensky’s] gone through hell. His country has gone through hell.”
AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022 after it annexed Crimea and invaded the nation. Russian President Vladimir Putin had called it a “special military operation” to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. The International Criminal Court has since opened a war-crimes investigation of Russia and issued arrest warrants for Putin and several other Russian officials.
During the meeting on Friday at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Zelensky responded to Trump’s comment about the former president’s relationship with Putin: “I hope we have more good relations with us.”
“It takes two to tango, and we will,” Trump replied.
The former president has often said he does not believe Russia and Putin would have invaded Ukraine if he were in office at the time. During the September 10 presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, however, Trump declined to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war.
The former president spoke with Fox News after the Friday meeting, saying that his stance on the war has not changed. “We both want to see this end, we both want to see a fair deal made,” he said, adding that the war is a “complicated puzzle.”
Trump’s “fair deal” sentiments are similar to comments world leaders have made pertaining to the Israel and Hamas war.
Zelensky said that he believes Trump shares his view that Ukraine must prevail: “We understand that after November … we hope that the strength of the United States will be very strong.”
The Ukrainian president, however, previously told The New Yorker: “Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.” He also called out Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, for his suggestions on how to end the war.
“His message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice,” Zelensky added. “This brings us back to the question of the cost and who shoulders it. The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine’s expense is unacceptable.”
In comments before the New York meeting, Trump spoke about his 2019 impeachment as a consequence of the phone call he had with Zelensky in July of that year. Trump had asked the Ukrainian president to probe the apparent end of an investigation by Ukraine’s top prosecutor regarding business dealings involving Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden‘s son, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
The Republican nominee had previously said this week that Zelensky was “making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me.”
“Ukraine is gone. It’s not Ukraine anymore,” Trump said Wednesday in North Carolina. “Any deal, even the worst deal, would have been better than what we have right now.”
At a campaign rally in Georgia, Trump continued his attacks on Zelensky: “Every time Zelensky comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion. I think he’s the greatest salesman on Earth. But we’re stuck in that war unless I’m president.”
Trump’s meeting with Zelensky on Friday followed Harris and Biden’s conference with the Ukrainian president on Thursday. Biden said the billions of dollars of defense aid he has authorized will strengthen Kyiv “in future negotiations.”
Harris, who met Zelensky in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., told him that her support for Kyiv’s defense is “unwavering.”
“I have been proud to stand with Ukraine. I will continue to stand with Ukraine, and I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails in this war, to be safe, secure and prosperous. The United States must continue to fulfill our long-standing role of global leadership,” Harris said.
“We must stand with our allies and our partners. We must defend our democratic values and stand up to aggressors, and we must stand for international order, rules and norms. Each one of these principles is at stake in Ukraine, and that is why Ukraine’s fight matters,” the Democratic presidential nominee added.
