US President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday, a day after he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting came amid renewed efforts to end the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. “It’s an honor to be with a very strong leader, a man who has been through a lot,” Trump said as he welcomed Zelenskyy. “We’ve gotten along really very well.” He added that his recent call with Putin had been “productive” and that he believed “something can get done” to bring peace between the two countries. Trump said both leaders Putin and Zelenskyy “don’t like each other,” calling the hostility “tremendous bad blood.” “These two leaders do not like each other, and we want to make it comfortable for everyone,” he said. “So one way or another, we’ll be involved in talks, but it might need to be in separate settings.” Asked about military aid, Trump expressed hesitation over supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. “One of the reasons we want to get this war over is that it’s not easy for us to give massive numbers of very powerful weapons,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get the war over without thinking about Tomahawks.” He added, “We’d much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We’re in it to get the war over. We’re not in it to sell weapons.” Trump’s comments came after Putin reportedly warned that supplying long-range missiles could escalate the conflict and make peace talks harder. The meeting, their third in the Oval Office and sixth this year, also included discussions on Ukraine’s proposal to store US liquefied natural gas in its facilities. Before the lunch, Trump briefly joked about Zelenskyy’s “very stylish jacket,” referring to their earlier tense February meeting where the two had clashed on live television. Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his Middle East ceasefire efforts and urged him to use that to help end the war in Ukraine. “With your support, we can stop the war,” Zelenskyy said. “Their army and economy are weakened, and this is a crucial moment.” He also noted that he had met with American energy and defense companies “ready to assist after the attacks on our infrastructure.” Trump, who has frequently described himself as a peacemaker, said, “I solved eight wars. I’ve saved millions and millions of lives.” Referring to India and Pakistan, he added, “That would have been a bad one. But we solved it.” He said he hoped to make Ukraine “number nine.”
