On Thursday, former American President Donald Trump stated that he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is attending the United Nations summit in New York.
Trump informed the press at a news conference held at Trump Tower in Manhattan, “As you all know, President Zelenskyy has requested a meeting with me, and tomorrow around 9:45 a.m., I will meet with him at Trump Tower.”
“The situation in Ukraine is tragic, with so many people dead and so many cities destroyed. It’s a terrible thing,” Trump said.
During the news conference, Trump reiterated his campaign promise to work towards a peace agreement to end the 31-month-long war between Ukraine and Russia, in order to “save lives” in Ukraine.
When asked about the potential agreement that may be reached, Trump told reporters, “I don’t want to tell you what it looks like.”
Prior to Trump announcing the meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday, there were speculations from the public on whether they would meet this time.
On Wednesday, Trump accused Zelenskyy of making “petty, nasty slurs” against him, as the Ukrainian President had previously mentioned in an interview with The New Yorker magazine that Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, was “too radical” on opposition to U.S. aid to Ukraine and that Trump didn’t know how to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Trump also stated on Wednesday that Zelenskyy “rejected making a deal.”
Moreover, Zelenskyy visited an ammunition factory in Pennsylvania together with Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, and some Republicans criticized Zelenskyy for allegedly campaigning for the Democratic Party.
The day before his scheduled meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy visited the White House and met with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump had previously mentioned that if re-elected as President, he would not disclose his plans for a Russia-Ukraine deal before taking office, but he mentioned his intent to push for Russia and Ukraine to end the war between the U.S. election on November 5 and the inauguration on January 20.
When asked whether he would suggest Ukraine to cede land to Russia during negotiations, Trump refused to make any commitments and simply stated, “We will wait and see.”