Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky carefully prepared the ground for his visit to the White House on October 17, but meeting with US President Donald Trump did not go according to plan. The American leader never announced the provision of Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv.

Edition The New York Times writes that Zelenskyy had several telephone conversations, telling Trump about the need to transfer the Tomahawks to Ukraine. There was even information that the US president was ready to take this step, but after a conversation with Vladimir Putin, everything changed.

"This is deja vu. Trump has fallen for Putin's old trick again," said Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's foreign affairs committee.

This situation is not new for Ukraine. For months, Ukrainians have watched as attempts to win over the US president were repeatedly thwarted by Moscow, which promised new peace talks.

The current situation, on the one hand, puts Kyiv in an awkward position, forcing it to wait for the Trump-Putin meeting before deciding on further action. If the talks fail, Ukraine will again try to persuade the American leader to provide more weapons. At the same time, the current situation confirms that Russia will only negotiate in the event of a military threat.

"This shows the power of the Tomahawks. The weapons don't necessarily have to be deployed to be effective and force Putin to react. So clearly the pressure is working," said Harry Nedelku, senior director at research organization Rasmussen Global.

Putin's agreement to meet again with Trump could also give Ukraine a temporary respite from Russian airstrikes, he said, as Moscow wants to show Washington it is ready to lay down its weapons. Kyiv needs a pause to restore energy facilities damaged by Russia's constant strikes.

MP Merezhko doubts that Putin will hold serious negotiations at the meeting with Trump in Budapest. He believes that the Russian dictator will try to"deceive Trump again."

Analysts say that if a new round of negotiations begins, Ukraine will be in a relatively stronger position than during previous attempts at negotiations.

"Tomahawks" for Ukraine - main news

During closed meeting at the White House Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump talked about the supply of weapons, in particular long-range Tomahawk missiles. Initially, the US president made encouraging statements about such supplies, but changed his position and made it clear that does not plan to provide Kyiv with"Tomahawks", as leaders differed on the future of the war in Ukraine.

For his part, Zelensky believes that Putin is frightened by the possibility of supplying American cruise missiles. He added that Trump has not completely abandoned the idea.