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President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment to ending the war between Russia and Ukraine when he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
The 45th president acknowledged the turmoil Zelensky has gone through as the pair greeted the press.
“It’s an honor to have the President with us. And he’s been through a lot. He’s been through a tremendous amount like probably nobody else, almost nobody else in history if you really get right down to it. And we’re gonna have a discussion and see what we can come up with,” Trump told reporters.
Zelensky thanked Trump for having the meeting and said, “I think where we are together, I think we have common view that the war in Ukraine has to be stopped and Putin can’t win, and Ukrainians have to prevail, and I want to discuss with you the details about that [sic] victory.”
Trump responded, telling Zelensky, “It’s my honor,” and then asked the press if they had any questions.
The first reporter asked the pair, “Why did you decide to meet?”
Zelensky told the reporter that it was “very important” to share information about the plan and the steps that are being taken to “strengthen Ukraine.” He noted that it was unclear who Americans would choose to become the next president in the upcoming election, so he “decided to meet with both candidates with all honor to them.”
Another reporter asked Trump what his expectations were about the meeting. Trump said that if he wins the election, he will work with “both parties to try and get this settled and get it worked out.”
Trump continued, telling reporters, “It has to end at some point, it has to end. He’s gone through hell and his country has gone through hell like few countries have ever, like it’s happened anywhere, nobody’s ever seen anything like it, it’s a terrible situation.”
Trump reiterated Zelensky’s defense of Trump during “the perfect phone call” that was the source of his first impeachment, noting that Zelensky said that he “did nothing wrong.”
Trump said that he believes the war would be resolved “very quickly” if he wins in November.
After the meeting, President Trump told Fox News, “We both want to see this end and we both want to see a fair deal made. And it’s got to be fair. And I think that’ll happen at the right time. I think it’s going to happen.”