Trump in tense meeting with Zelensky as pair clash over Putin’s intentions and Ukraine demands Tomahawk missiles

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the White House Friday afternoon with a direct plea for President Trump: provide long-range weapons that could mark a sharp escalation in Ukraine’s war with Russia.

During a bilateral lunch between the two leaders, both signaled cooperation — but it was a pointed remark from Zelensky that set the tone for the high-stakes meeting.

‘We want peace, Putin doesn’t want peace. That’s why we need pressure on him,’ Zelensky said, underscoring Kyiv’s call for stronger US support.

Trump has said that he believes Putin wants to end the war.  

‘We had a big call yesterday with President Putin and Zelensky of Ukraine, who has endured a lot. We have endured it with him. It has been a long time and we are making great progress,’ Trump started the speech. 

The president saying that he understand what they need to ‘push Putin to the negotiating table.’ 

‘There are three presidents. A president, a president and a president, and I am the mediator… maybe it can turn around, maybe it can’t. But in the meantime we will have them keep a little bit of distance and see if we can get it done,’ Trump said.  

‘I think things are coming along very well. It started with Alaska … this was long ago into the Biden administration and we inherited this and want to see if we can end this. So many people have died in this war,’ he added. 

Zelensky start off his part of the speech celebrating Trump’s success in the Middle East and saying that the momentum for peace in Europe is strong, and that Russia’s defense forces are losing strength.

‘I am confident with your help that we can stop this war. We see that they do not have success on the battlefield, they are weaker now,’ Zelensky said. 

A reporter then asked what the president would do if President Putin does not agree to peace.

Trump responded, ‘I think he wants to end the war. I spoke to him yesterday for two and a half hours—he wants to get it ended. Zelensky wants to end it as well.’

Reporters questioned what concessions Ukraine’s president might be willing to make, noting that President Trump has ‘stuck out his neck.’ Zelensky replied that before any decisions could be made, ‘they will have to sit down and talk first.’

Another question was directed at Trump, asking who he believes is doing a better job negotiating—Putin or Zelensky. He replied that both leaders are ‘doing a great job,’ but emphasized that ‘they need to take some of their hatred for each other’ out of the equation. He added that he had spoken with Putin and believes he wants to ‘get it done.’

The two world leaders standing together shoulder to shoulder Friday afternoon with soft smiles as reporters shouted questions upon arrival.

Journalists asking Trump and Zelensky whether or not they are ready to negotiate with Putin, if Russia’s president will negotiate in good faith and also inquiring about the tomahawks. None of the questions were answered.

But the high–stakes meeting comes just one day after Trump agreed to a second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin – expected to take place in Hungary – with the White House playing up Putin’s flattery. 

‘President Putin congratulated President Trump for solving the conflict in Israel and Gaza and bringing peace back to the Middle East,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday. 

Trump said that after the call, he was more convinced that Putin was ready to make peace. 

‘It just seems to me that, you know, it’s how I feel,’ the president explained. ‘That’s all I’ve done in my whole life, I’ve made deals, I know about deals, I do it well.’

‘I don’t think any president has ever ended a war, frankly,’ Trump also offered. 

In a post on X Thursday night, Zelensky made clear he was dubious that Putin was truly ready to come to the negotiating table. 

‘Nothing has changed for Russia– it is still terrorizing life in Ukraine,’ Zelensky said. 

‘Russia will be forced to stop the war once it is no longer able to continue it,’ the Ukrainian leader continued. ‘And Russia’s true readiness for peace lies not in words – Putin has never been short of those – but in actually ceasing the strikes and killings, and that’s precisely where he has a problem.’

Trump has been in contact with Putin throughout his second term – and met him face–to–face in August in Alaska – but the Russian leader hasn’t slowed down his assault on Ukrainian territory. 

The president said he still viewed the Alaska meeting positively, though the US walked away with no concrete peace deal and Putin was able to herald the visit as his return to the world stage, after being turned into a pariah since the February 2022 invasion.

‘Well, I think Alaska actually set a stage and that wasn’t very long ago, but it set a stage,’ Trump said Thursday. 

Prior to this week’s call with Putin, Trump appeared to have grown frustrated with the Russian leader, often lamenting that he thought the Ukraine war would be the easiest to end – thanks to his good relationship with Putin – and instead it’s been the hardest.

Trump also credited first lady Melania Trump with opening his eyes to Russia’s consistent bombing and killing of civilians in the aftermath of friendly phone calls with Putin.

Zelensky is expected to ask Trump for long–range Tomahawk missiles for Kyiv, capabilities that might make Russia more eager for peace. 

Washington has been hesitant to provide Ukraine with long–range missiles, such as Tomahawks, out of concern that such a step could escalate the war and deepen tensions between the United States and Russia. 

But Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Wednesday in Brussels that if Russia won’t budge from its objections and refuses to negotiate a peace deal, Washington ‘will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression.’

The president revealed that he had teased giving Zelensky the Tomahawks to Putin on their call Thursday. 

‘I did actually say, ‘Would you mind if I gave a couple of thousand tomahawks to your opposition?’ I did say that to him. I said it just that way. He didn’t like the idea,’ Trump said. ‘You have to be a little lighthearted sometimes.’

Relations between Trump and Zelensky have warmed since their late February viral spat in the Oval Office in which the president told his Ukrainian counterpart: ‘You don’t have the cards.’

But it appeared Trump might wait for his second in–person meeting with Putin before green–lighting the Tomahawks, which he called ‘vicious,’ ‘offensive’ and ‘incredibly destructive.’ 

The president said his second Putin summit would be hosted by his political ally, Hungarian President Victor Orban, and would happen soon. 

Putin has yet to commit to sitting down with Zelensky face–to–face. 

‘I mean, we have a problem. They don’t get along too well, those two, and it’s sometimes tough to have meetings,’ Trump said. ‘So we may do something where we’re separate, but separate but equal,’ the president floated. 

‘This is a terrible relationship the two of them have,’ Trump said.