US President Donald Trump met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, where the two discussed prospects for ending the war, military aid to Ukraine, and the possibility of arms exchanges.
The video of the meeting was broadcast by Sky News .
Trump stated that he wants to "end this war" and believes that "Putin also wants peace." "We inherited this conflict from the previous administration. We want to end it—too many people have died," he said, adding that he had held a two-and-a-half-hour conversation with the Russian president the previous day.
Zelenskyy thanked them for their support and called the current moment "an important opportunity to stop Russian aggression." He reported meeting with American energy and defense companies willing to assist Ukraine following the attacks on its energy infrastructure.
The Ukrainian President emphasized that Kyiv is ready for negotiations "in any format—bilateral, trilateral—as long as there is peace." At the same time, he noted that Ukraine needs "reliable security guarantees," and "NATO is the best, but not the only" form of such guarantees.
During a discussion of military aid, Zelenskyy proposed a "trade" with the US: Ukrainian-made attack drones in exchange for American Tomahawk cruise missiles. "This applies exclusively to military purposes. We have thousands of our own drones, but no Tomahawks. The US has powerful missiles—we can strengthen American production by working together," Zelenskyy said.
Trump responded that he was "willing to consider" the idea, but emphasized: "We need Tomahawks ourselves. They are a powerful but dangerous weapon. We want to end the war, not endlessly supply weapons."
The American leader confirmed that the issue of allowing Ukrainian forces to strike Russian territory would be “discussed,” acknowledging that this was an “escalatory step.”
Trump also stated that he was ready to mediate between Zelensky and Putin: "There are three presidents—me, Zelensky, and Putin. I am the president-mediator. This will be the ninth war, and I will stop it."
Zelensky, in turn, expressed confidence that Trump “has a chance to end the war” after successfully mediating a ceasefire in the Middle East.
"President Biden is no longer president, so he can't do this. And President Trump has proven he can secure a ceasefire—now is the time for peace for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
Summing up the meeting, Trump added: "Ukrainians and Russians are great people, and they have much in common. It would be a great honor to end this war."