US president Donald Trump has expressed his belief that the recent brokering of a ceasefire in the Middle East has given his administration “a lot of momentum, a lot of credibility” in his effort to mediate a truce between Russia and Ukraine.
Mr Trump was speaking as he hosted president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the White House on Friday.
The meeting was notable for the cordial exchanges between the US leader and his Ukrainian visitor during an informal conference in the Cabinet Room before the afternoon talks.
However, Mr Trump was ambivalent as to whether he will accede to Ukraine’s wish to purchase long-range Tomahawk missiles from the US.
[ How Putin’s history lecture in Alaska nudged Trump closer to UkraineOpens in new window ]
“It is an escalation, but we will be talking about that,” Mr Trump said before agreeing with Mr Zelenskiy that the US is interested in purchasing Ukrainian-produced drones that operate in tandem with the missiles.
Mr Zelenskiy told Mr Trump during the open exchange that while Ukraine believes that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, is “really not ready” to end the war, “I am confident that with your help we can stop this war.
“We really need it – we see that they don’t have successful steps on the battlefield,” he said.
“And I think that their army is weak now and they have a lot of losses with the economy and people, and I think this is an important moment.”
For his part, Mr Trump emphasised the positive notes he had detected from Moscow during Thursday’s phone call with Mr Putin, which was initiated by the Russian leader.
“Let’s see what happens ... I think president Putin wants to end the war or I wouldn’t be talking this way. I spoke to him yesterday for two and a half hours. We went through a lot of details. He wants to get it ended. President Zelenskiy wants to get it ended and now we’ve got to get it done.
“I think that things are coming along pretty well. It began with [Mr Trump’s August meeting with Mr Putin in] Alaska where certain guidelines were discussed, and we want to see if we can get this done. So many people have died in this war, and we are going to get it ended.”
Mr Zelenskiy spent Thursday night at Blair House, the traditional White House guest facility for visiting dignitaries. It was the Ukrainian leader’s first time to stay overnight there since Mr Trump returned to office in January, a further symbol of the thaw in the relationship since that notorious February meeting when the US president shouted at Mr Zelenskiy in the Oval Office, leading to an abrupt breakdown in their engagement.
But Friday’s lunchtime meeting was preceded with dimming hopes that Mr Trump would allow Ukraine to purchase the Tomahawk missiles which would put Moscow and St Petersburg within range of their military capability, a point he reiterated.
“Well, that’s a problem – we need Tomahawks, and we need other things that we have been sending for the past four years to Ukraine. It is beyond the money. And one of the reasons we want to get this war over is exactly that. You are talking about massive numbers of very powerful weapons.”
Thursday marked the eighth conversation between Mr Putin and Mr Trump this year and arguably the most significant since the deterioration in ceasefire negotiations since the Alaska summit.
Mr Trump’s proposed summit meeting with Putin in Budapest will, he hopes, represent a further step on what he believes will ultimately lead to a meeting between all three leaders.
“There’s a lot of bad blood between the two presidents. I’m not speaking out of turn when I say that- it’s a very bad situation. Look, my only statement is that we have to get together. It’s a very small group of people. It’s the president, the president, and the president. I’m the mediator president.”
