A difficult meeting between Zelensky and Trump. The US refuses the missiles, and the Ukrainians argue: the topic is topical

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday after a meeting with US leader Donald Trump that the topic of Tomahawk cruise missiles is topical. He also said that the Russians are afraid of this American weapon.

During the briefing, President Zelensky announced that during the meeting with President Trump at the White House, the topics of air defense, long-range combat assets and weapons production were discussed.

– We have decided not to make a statement on this matter and not to answer questions about it, Zelensky said.

– We believe in the USA, we believe in the president (Trump – PAP) that he wants to end this war. We understand that this is not an easy task. For us, however, it is a matter of our independence, he added.

President Zelensky stated that the issue of selling Tomahawk missiles was discussed. – Yes, we talked about Tomahawks – I'm telling you completely openly – we would like to receive them. And President Trump stressed that we must understand that “we need them too.” This is the current position of the American side. But no one removed this topic from the conversation. We need to work on this, Zelensky said.

He emphasized that he cannot reveal details at this time, and questions about the Tomahawks should be directed to the American side. He also said that “the Russians are afraid of Tomahawks” because they know what they could achieve in combination with Ukrainian weapons. When asked if he was leaving Washington more optimistic about the Tomahawks, he replied: – I'm a realist.

They also discussed the planned meeting of US and Russian leaders in Budapest, as well as Trump's Thursday conversation with Vladimir Putin.

The President of Ukraine announced that after the meeting with the American leader, he held talks with European leaders, including: with Prime Minister Donald Tusk. He also mentioned NATO Secretary General Marek Rutte among his interlocutors.

– We talked about security guarantees. The Coalition of the Willing is the main European partner. We also talked about the PURL program (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List – a mechanism for NATO countries to finance purchases of American weapons for Ukraine),” the president said.

– Putin hates me and it's mutual. It is difficult to have a different attitude towards someone who wants to kill us all, said Volodymyr Zelensky.z

Zelensky on the hotline with Europe

President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone with European leaders about the details of Friday's meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington. The Ukrainian leader announced this on the X platform.

During a media briefing after Friday's meeting with Donald Trump at the White House, President Zelensky said that he had held talks with European leaders, including: with the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk.

The President of Ukraine announced that he had talked to the Prime Minister of Great Britain Keiremr Starmer, the Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, the head of the Polish government Donald Tusk, as well as the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Council António Costa and the Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutt.

With US President Donald Trump, “we discussed many important issues. Our main priority now is to protect the lives of as many people as possible, guarantee the security of Ukraine and strengthen all of us in Europe. This is exactly what we are striving for,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Platform X.

“Our national security advisers will talk about the next steps. We are coordinating our positions. I am grateful for the conversation, for the support and for the readiness to support Ukraine,” the Ukrainian leader said after the meeting with the US president.

Axios: It was a difficult meeting

US President Donald Trump told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting on Friday that, at least for now, he does not intend to provide the Ukrainians with long-range Tomahawk missiles, Axios wrote, citing sources. According to them, it was a difficult match.

As the portal emphasized, Zelensky hoped to leave Washington with commitments regarding new weapons for his country. But found Trump with a very different attitude after he had a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Trump has made clear that his priority now is diplomacy and he believes that providing Tomahawks to Ukraine could harm those efforts, two sources told Axios. One of them said the meeting “wasn't easy.” The second caller said “it was bad.” “Nobody screamed, but it was hard,” he said.

– Trump made several strong statements during the meeting and at some points it got a bit emotional – the Axios source said.

The meeting – according to sources – ended abruptly after approximately 2.5 hours. – I think we're done. We'll see what happens next week, Trump said, referring to the planned next US-Russian talks.

President Zelensky said during a briefing in Washington that he had discussed Tomahawks with Trump, but said he and Trump had decided not to raise the issue publicly because the United States wanted to avoid escalation with Russia.

When asked whether he was leaving Washington more optimistic about the potential sale, President Zelensky said: – I am a realist.

According to sources, Zelensky pushed for the transfer of the Tomahawks, but Trump opposed this solution and showed no flexibility.

“WSJ”: Missiles crucial for peace

The transfer of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kiev may be a step towards peace, limiting Russia's ability to wage war, said the American Wall Street Journal after Friday's meeting of the presidents of the US and Ukraine, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to the newspaper, “the U.S. interest in achieving lasting peace in Ukraine far outweighs the risks associated with transferring the missiles.”

As “WSJ” emphasized, Washington is afraid of, among other things, escalation of the conflict with the Kremlin, although “(Russian leader Vladimir) Putin has been firing cruise and ballistic missiles at Ukraine for years and there is nothing escalatory about return fire.”

“Tomahawks could become an argument for peace, limiting Putin's ability to continue a devastating war,” noted the American daily.

In this way, Ukrainian troops could not only shoot down Russian drones that regularly attack targets in this country, but also liquidate the Russian drone factory, the newspaper added.

In another text, “WSJ” noted that Trump is focusing on “personal diplomacy”, which, in the American president's belief, can lead to an end to the war without the need to transfer Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.

The newspaper emphasized that Trump believes that the next meeting with Putin, to be held in the capital of Hungary – Budapest, may bring a breakthrough in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that has been going on for over three years.

“This strategy is not without risk. Trump's previous meeting with the Russian leader (in Alaska in mid-August – PAP) ended without any specific success and was widely perceived as a victory for Moscow,” wrote “WSJ.”

As noted by the daily, critics of the US president claim that the next summit will give Russia more time to wage war against Ukraine. (PAP)

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