On Friday, September 27th, US Republican presidential candidate Trump (Trump) met with Ukrainian President Zelensky in New York. Trump vowed that if he wins the US election, he will quickly begin to address the issue of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
This is the first meeting between Trump and Zelensky since 2019.
Zelensky told reporters at Trump Tower that he wanted to discuss Ukraine’s “victory plan” with Trump.
He stated that he not only met with Trump but also had a meeting with Democratic presidential candidate Harris. He emphasized that Ukraine needs strong support from the US in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Trump expressed his pleasure at meeting with the Ukrainian president and praised Zelensky, but mentioned that he also has a strong relationship with Russian President Putin.
“Our relationship with Zelensky is very good, as you know, my relationship with President Putin is also very good,” he added. “I believe that if we (win the election), we will quickly resolve this issue (referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict).”
Zelensky used his trip to the US to promote his “victory plan.” A US official described it as a rebranding to “request more weapons and the lifting of restrictions on using long-range missiles.” The official stated that the plan assumes Russia will ultimately fail in the war. Some officials consider this goal to be unrealistic.
“We are honored that President Zelensky could be with us. He has experienced a lot,” Trump said, possibly something that few people have experienced in history. “We will discuss and see what solutions we can come up with.”
Trump also said that if he wins the US election on November 5th, he will immediately begin efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
After meeting with Zelensky, Trump was asked about his vision for reaching a “fair” agreement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In an interview with Fox News, he responded, “It’s too early to talk about that now.”
“I have my own ideas, and President Zelensky definitely has his own ideas. It has to be fair,” he said.
(This article was based on reporting by Reuters.)