On Friday, President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, where the two leaders fielded questions from the press about the current conflict in Eastern Europe amid upcoming negotiations between U.S. and Russian representatives.
The president confirmed that, following next week’s representative meetings, he is tentatively planning to visit Hungary, where he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“We’re doing Hungary,” the president said. “…It will be a double meeting, but we will have the president, Zelensky, in touch.”
President Trump discussed the war in the Middle East – a conflict that his administration brought to an end with a staggering Gaza peace plan – a 20-point strategy that has the support of 59 countries, according to the president.
In comments made by President Zelensky, he said he would discuss with President Trump “what we need to push Putin to the negotiation table.”
He emphasized a need for “really strong security guarantees” and reiterated several times that the United States was “very strong” on the world stage. He also stated that he would be willing to trade Ukrainian-made drones in exchange for U.S. Tomahawk missiles – long-range American missiles.
Reporter Peter Doocy asked President Trump if he was interested in such a proposed trade. “We are,” the president replied.
However, the president tempered this statement with his hope that the war would end before such a trade would need to be made. “We much rather have them not need Tomahawks…we’re in it to get the war over,” he stated.
President Trump also acknowledged the finite number of Tomahawk missiles available to trade, noting, “I have an obligation to make sure that we’re completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what’s going to happen in war and peace.”
President Trump also told reporters that he believed “we’re fairly close” to achieving a conclusion in the war between Ukraine and Russia.