Washington — President Trump said Friday it’s possible the U.S. could accept Ukrainian drones in exchange for long-range Tomahawk missiles Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking for his forces in the war against Russia. But Mr. Trump also expressed concern about reducing the number of Tomahawks that the U.S. possesses.
“Tomahawks are a big deal,” Mr. Trump told reporters during a meeting with his Cabinet and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “But one thing I have to say, we want Tomahawks, also. We don’t want to be giving away things that we need to protect our country.”
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get the war over without thinking about Tomahawks. I think we’re fairly close to that,” Mr. Trump said.
His meeting with Zelenskyy took place a day after the president had a long call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and announced that he and Putin would meet soon in Budapest.
Military aid for Ukraine is a top agenda item for Zelenskyy’s meeting with Mr. Trump. Zelenskyy suggested Ukraine might give the U.S. Ukrainian drones in exchange for the Tomahawk missiles. A reporter asked Mr. Trump if that’s a trade he might be interested in.
“We are, yeah,” the president responded. “They make a very good drone,” he told the reporter.
Zelenskyy and Mr. Trump shook hands when the Ukrainian president arrived at the White House, and a reporter asked the president if he believes he can persuade Putin to end the war. “Yup,” Mr. Trump responded.
In their meeting, Mr. Trump was seated across from Zelenskyy, who wore a military-style jacket for the occasion. Mr. Trump complimented him, saying, “I think he looks beautiful in his jacket.”
“It’s an honor to be with a very strong leader, a man who has been through a lot,” Mr. Trump said in the meeting, adding he thinks they’re making “great progress” in ending the war.
Zelenskyy congratulated Mr. Trump on the “successful ceasefire” in the Middle East, but he added that he thinks Putin is “not ready” to end the war with Ukraine.
Mr. Trump brought up the possibility that Zelenskyy could join his upcoming meeting with Putin in Budapest, but then added that the meetings “may be separated.” A date has not yet been set for Mr. Trump’s meeting with the Russian leader.
A reporter asked the president if he’s concerned Putin may just be trying to buy more time with the Budapest meeting. “Yeah, I am,” Mr. Trump said. “But you know, I’ve been played all my life by the best of them. And I came out really well. So, it’s possible, yeah.”
Mr. Trump had previously said the Tomahawks would be a “new step of aggression” in the Russia-Ukraine war. They’d enable Ukraine to strike deep within Russia.
“I might say ‘Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send the Tomahawks,'” Mr. Trump told reporters earlier this week. “We may not, but we may do it.”
The last time the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents met in person was in late September, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Mr. Trump and Zelenskyy spoke twice over the weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, ahead of Mr. Trump’s whirlwind Middle East trip to mark the Israel-Hamas peace deal.
Russia has given no indication it wants to end the war. And Ukrainian authorities said there had been another large-scale Russian strike hours before Mr. Trump spoke with Putin on the phone.
“The massive overnight strike — launched hours before the conversation between Putin and President Trump — exposes Moscow’s real attitude toward peace,” Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishyna said in a statement Thursday. “While discussions about ending the war continue, Russia once again chose missiles over dialogue, turning this attack into a direct blow to ongoing peace efforts led by President Trump.”
Mr. Trump in recent months has expressed frustration with Putin over the failure to end the war, though on a separate front, first lady Melania Trump said last week that she has worked with the Russian leader’s team to return Ukrainian children to their families. Mr. Trump said the first lady took up that initiative on her own.
U.S. and Russian advisers will be meeting next week in a location that hasn’t been disclosed yet ahead of the anticipated Trump-Putin meeting. The president indicated that initial meetings leading up to the meeting with the Russian leader would be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Sneak peek: My Uncle Joe’s Murder
Catastrophic flooding leaves trail of destruction in western Alaska
Restaurant owner says he’s “barely breaking even” amid tariffs, inflation
