Zelensky says meeting with Trump was ‘positive’ despite no Tomahawk missiles

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his reportedly tense meeting with US President Donald Trump last week was “positive” even though he did not secure Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine, and emphasised what he said is continued US interest in economic deals with Kyiv.

Mr Zelensky said Mr Trump reneged on the possibility of sending the long-range missiles to Ukraine, which would have been a major boost for Kyiv, following Mr Trump’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin hours before the Ukrainian leader and American president were to meet on Friday.

“In my opinion, he does not want an escalation with the Russians until he meets with them,” Mr Zelensky told reporters on Sunday. His comments were embargoed until Monday morning.

Ukraine is hoping to purchase 25 Patriot air defence systems from American firms using frozen Russian assets and assistance from partners, but Mr Zelensky said procuring all of these would require time because of long production queues.

He said he spoke to Mr Trump about help procuring these quicker, potentially from European partners.

According to Mr Zelensky, Mr Trump said during their meeting that Mr Putin’s maximalist demand – that Ukraine cede the entirety of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions – was unchanged.

Mr Zelensky was diplomatic about his meeting with Mr Trump despite reports that he faced pressure to accept Mr Putin’s demands – a tactic he has kept up since the disastrous Oval Office spat in February when the Ukrainian president was scolded on live television for not being grateful for continued American support.

Mr Zelensky said that because Mr Trump ultimately supported a freeze along the current front line his overall message “is positive” for Ukraine.

He said Mr Trump was looking to end the war and hopes his meeting in the coming weeks with Mr Putin in Hungary – which does not support Ukraine – will pave the way for a peace deal after their first summit in Alaska in August failed to reach such an outcome.

So far, Mr Zelensky said he has not been invited to attend but would consider it if the format for talks were fair to Kyiv.

“We share President Trump’s positive outlook if it leads to the end of the war.

“After many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with him and his team, his message, in my view, is positive – that we stand where we stand on the line of contact, provided all sides understand what is meant,” Mr Zelensky said.

Mr Zelensky expressed doubts about Hungary’s capital of Budapest being a suitable location for the next Trump-Putin meeting.

“I do not consider Budapest to be the best venue for such a meeting. Obviously, if it can bring peace, it will not matter which country hosts the meeting,” he added.

Mr Zelensky mentioned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, saying he does not believe that a prime minister “who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians or even provide a balanced contribution”.

Mr Zelensky also expressed scepticism about Mr Putin’s proposal to swap some territory it holds in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions if Ukraine surrenders all of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

“We wanted to understand exactly what the Russians meant. So far, there is no clear position,” he said.

Mr Zelensky said he thinks that all parties have “moved closer” to a possible end to the war.

“That doesn’t mean it will definitely end, but President Trump has achieved a lot in the Middle East, and riding that wave he wants to end Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky added.

He said the United States is interested in bilateral gas projects with Ukraine, including the construction of an LNG terminal in the southern port city of Odesa.

Other projects of interest to the US include those related to nuclear energy and oil.