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Donald Trump said the war in Ukraine would be “resolved very quickly” if he won the US election as he met Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, and touted his “very good relationship” with both the Ukrainian leader and Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president.
The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy had been in question throughout the week, with the former US president criticising the Ukrainian president for “refusing” to make a deal with Putin and members of the Republican party accusing him of siding with Kamala Harris in the race for the White House.
While the meeting was a sign that they are searching for a common understanding of how relations between Washington and Kyiv might change in a second Trump presidency, the former president renewed his push for peace talks with Russia.
Ukrainian and many western officials have rejected the proposal as premature, saying negotiations would cement Russia’s control of big chunks of the country’s territory.
“We have a very good relationship,” Trump told Zelenskyy as they jointly spoke to reporters before their meeting. “I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin . . . if we win I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly.”
In a sign of the testiness around the gathering, Zelenskyy quickly interjected to say he hoped Trump would have “more good” relations with him compared with Putin. Trump responded: “You know, it takes two to tango.”
In a brief interview with Fox News after the meeting, Trump repeated that he would broker a “fair and rapid deal” to end the war. “It has to be fair,” he said. He also called the conflict “a very complicated puzzle”.
Zelenskyy told the interviewer the “war shouldn’t [have been] started”, adding that “the United States can be the leader in any negotiations”. He extended an invitation to Trump to visit his country, saying “you have to come see”.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy was at the White House to meet US President Joe Biden as well as Harris, who blasted her Republican rival’s position on the war in Ukraine without naming Trump.
“There are some in my country who would . . . force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality and would require Ukraine to forgo security relationships with other nations,” she said. “They are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.”
Zelenskyy used his visit to Washington to promote his “victory plan” to strengthen Ukraine’s military and diplomatic position ahead of possible negotiations with Russia.
Kyiv has been pleading for additional military aid and a green light to hit targets inside Russia using western weapons so it can make more military gains that will enable it to reach a better deal with Putin.
Zelenskyy secured an additional $2.4bn in US military aid, including a first pledge of “stand-off munitions”, or glide bombs, that could be used for long-range strikes. However, the White House has still not said it would lift restrictions on Ukraine hitting Russian territory with western weaponry.
Given Trump’s criticism of Zelenskyy earlier this week and his party’s criticism of the Ukrainian leader after his visit with Democratic politicians to a weapons factory in the swing state of Pennsylvania, securing the meeting with Trump was an important way for Kyiv to salvage the trip.
The meeting was their first since 2019. Their relationship has been complicated because Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives over his effort at the time to pressure Ukraine to dig up damaging information on Hunter Biden, the current president’s son, connected to his business dealings in Ukraine.
Trump was already concerned that Joe Biden could win the 2020 election. Trump returned to what he has described as the “impeachment hoax” on Friday and said he harboured no ill will towards Zelenskyy over it.
“He could have grandstanded and played cute, and he didn’t do that,” Trump said. “He said President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong. He said it loud and clear.”