Published On 18/10/2025
|
Last update: 05:49 (Mecca time)
During his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the White House, US President Donald Trump affirmed his country’s determination to end the war between Russia and Ukraine as quickly as possible, stressing the priority of diplomacy to achieve this.
Trump said he told Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin that it was time to stop the war and conclude an agreement.
For his part, Zelensky said that Moscow does not want peace and must pressure President Putin to push him to the negotiating table.
Zelensky added that he discussed with Trump supplying his country with Tomahawk missiles, and denied raising the issue of directing strikes on Russian energy facilities with Trump.
After the meeting, the Ukrainian president said that Trump realizes that the most difficult issue in any talks will be the territorial issue, stressing that it is an issue of sovereignty for Kiev.
He added that he believes that the US President wants to end the war in Ukraine, and that he is capable of doing so.
European confusion
In the same context, Axios quoted sources as saying that Trump made clear to his Ukrainian counterpart that his priority now is diplomacy, adding that he believes that providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine may undermine those efforts.
These sources said that Zelensky found Trump in a completely different state a day after his lengthy call with Russian President Putin.
The sources added that Zelensky pushed hard to obtain Tomahawk missiles, but Trump responded strongly and did not show any flexibility.
Axios quoted a source as saying that the meeting between Trump and Zelensky was not easy and that the US President was strict.
Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social, that his meeting with Zelensky was “very interesting and friendly, but I told him, as I suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing and conclude an agreement!”, considering that the two warring parties must “stop.”
He added, “Let them both declare victory, and let history decide. Enough shooting, enough killing.”
On the other hand, a source told Axios that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested during Zelensky’s call with European leaders to work with the United States to formulate peace in Ukraine along the lines of Trump’s plan to stop the war in Gaza.
The source added that many of the European leaders with whom Zelensky spoke after his meeting with Trump seemed confused about the apparent change in the US President’s position.