As part of a coordinated effort by Ukrainians to shift the Trump administration’s attention from the Middle East to Russia, the American president is expected to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Friday. With focus now turning to the Ukrainian issue, it’s worth noting that a White House official told Politico that Donald Trump declared himself “optimistic” that he can achieve peace in Ukraine following the successful release of hostages in Gaza.
Trump: The deal being prepared with Zelensky
Trump has publicly acknowledged Zelensky’s interest in Tomahawk missiles, suggesting he could choose to provide them to Ukraine as a consequence of Putin’s continued refusal to participate in substantive peace talks. But he has also referenced the danger of escalating a wider conflict, if Russia, which is concerned about the Tomahawks’ ability to strike Moscow, considers the deployment of additional American weapons by Ukraine as US participation in the war.
When asked Tuesday about his upcoming meeting with Zelensky, Trump also referenced Putin: “Vladimir and I had a good relationship, we probably still do […] I don’t know why he continues this war… He really needs to settle this war… He just doesn’t want to end this war”.
What Trump and Zelensky will discuss
The two presidents will discuss Kiev’s request for Tomahawk missiles and other additional equipment and air defense systems, energy resilience and increased cooperation in drone production, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US said in a statement.
American and Ukrainian officials will also hold bilateral discussions before the White House meeting.
“We have multiple Ukrainian delegations working to maximize the impact of the leaders’ meeting this Friday,” Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s new ambassador to the US, told Politico. “This is a completely new form of engagement: military teams have been working for two weeks, the prime minister is cooperating with economic partners to coordinate efforts- our economy and energy staffs are focusing on mitigating the impact of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, mobilizing US commitment to natural gas supply.”
Zelensky told Ukrainian journalists on Monday that Trump advised him to meet with energy companies during his stay in Washington. The Ukrainian leader also plans to have contacts with military companies and members of Congress during his visit.
Zelensky’s first priority will be protecting Ukrainian infrastructure from ongoing Russian missile attacks, he said, although he didn’t mention who he would meet with on his trip.
Trump has said that ending the Russia-Ukraine war was ultimately much more difficult to achieve than he originally believed. Politico comments that this could now change, as the administration is optimistic following its success in the Middle East.
“Trump wants to end the Russia-Ukraine war”
“President Trump has long expressed his desire to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, just as he freed the hostages and ended the war between Israel and Hamas,” the White House official said.
Zelensky appears eager to seize the opportunity, saying Tuesday in a speech that there is “strong momentum for peace in the world now.”
“The US president himself, his team did a lot, various leaders also participated, helped a lot,” he continued. “And now there are serious chances to live without war in the Middle East. This shows that Russia can really be pressured to stop hostilities.”
The White House official emphasized that Russia should have incentive to come to the negotiating table due to its military and economic position.
“As the president stated, the war is not going well for Russia, whose economy is in shambles and which continues to lose thousands of lives to gain ‘essentially no territory.’ If they were smart, they would urgently seek a deal to end the war that has caused significant damage to Russia’s reputation, stop the killing and get their country back on track. President Putin has repeatedly rejected generous peace proposals that would have benefited Russia,” the official said.
“The President [Trump] remains optimistic that he will be able to convince both sides to stop the senseless killing.”
