“I think we have a common view that the war in Ukraine has to be stopped and Putin can’t win,” Zelensky began, adding that Ukraine had to prevail and that he planned to discuss the details of his victory plan with Trump.
Speaking in English to the assembled press ahead of the meeting, a visibly stiff Zelensky thanked Trump for meeting with him, noting that five years had passed since they last met.
Zelensky said that while Americans alone would decide who became the next president, it was important to discuss the steps the two countries would take after the November election.
Trump said that in the event of his victory, he would try to work with both Moscow and Kyiv to settle the conflict, saying that Zelensky had “gone through hell and his country has gone through hell”.
Trump added that he had a very good relationship with both Zelensky and Putin, leaving him in a good position to mediate a solution should he win the election.
In one of the most scathing attacks on the Ukrainian president’s handling of the war in Ukraine, Trump hit out at Zelensky on Wednesday for “refusing to make a deal” with Putin.
… Any deal, even the worst deal, would have been better than what we have right now,” Trump said. »
