Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump in New York. Before the talks began, the two leaders spoke to reporters and stressed the need to end Russia’s war against Ukraine as quickly as possible.
Zelensky thanked Trump for his support and expressed hope that the US president would help bring the war to an end.
“I hope that we will end this war, and President Trump will help us to end this war. And I think that we need to do this as quick as possible, before winter, better before winter,” Zelensky said.
Asked about potential territorial terms of a peace agreement, Trump declined to say what a future deal could look like.
“I think they’re going to make a deal, and I don’t want to say what the deal is. We talk about it a lot, including with President Putin. And I think something’s going to happen,” Trump said.
The US president also praised Ukrainian troops and the country’s leadership.
“They are very good fighters. They can be proud of themselves. Regardless, we’ll see what happens. But very, very capable people. Very capable leadership,” he said.
Trump was also asked about Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refining capacity. He acknowledged that the attacks were having a significant impact on Russia, while also pointing to their effect on diesel prices.
“It is a serious hit on the Russians. It’s also a serious hit on the price of diesel. The diesel oil, diesel fuel has gone up quite a bit. But we’ll be talking about that. But no, it’s a very serious hit, certainly on Russia,” Trump said.
Trump also raised the possibility of another meeting with Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian president was willing to meet.
“We’ve had a meeting already in Alaska. We can do another one. I don’t know about Miami. We have a big thing happening in Miami very soon, but he’ll meet. He’s willing to meet. He’d like to see the war end,” Trump said.
Asked whether such a meeting could also involve Zelensky, Trump said he believed both sides wanted the war to end.
“I think they both want to see the war end, to be honest with you. It’s time. A lot of people being killed. They don’t want that,” he said.
Before the closed-door talks began, Trump was also asked about the possibility of producing Patriot missiles in Ukraine. The US president said the issue would be discussed during the meeting.
“We’re talking about that. We’ll be talking about that now,” Trump said, adding that Ukraine has “very capable” people and production capacity.
