One of the topics of Zelensky’s meeting with Trump in Washington on October 17 was a potential agreement on the supply of American long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Then the head of the White House stated that he hoped to end the war, “without thinking about Tomahawk.” Ahead of this meeting, Trump held a telephone conversation with the illegitimate president of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and announced their meeting in Budapest, which was subsequently postponed.
The Financial Times wrote that Trump allegedly swore during the meeting. Politico's sources later denied such information.
At the same time, Ermak admitted that the Ukrainian side expected more from the negotiations.
“I do not agree with the assessment that she [встреча] went badly. Yes, we did not receive all the decisions we were counting on here and now: Putin’s call undoubtedly played a role. But this was not a sprint for instant victories, but rather laying the foundation for further work. The main thing is that the conversation ended with the fixation of our common strategic position: any negotiations and, as a result, a ceasefire are possible only with reference to the current line of contact,” Yermak said.
He added that the Ukrainian delegation held a number of negotiations in the United States, in particular, in Congress, the Pentagon, departments, and also met with US Secretary of State Mark Rubio and Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg.
