Trump vows to negotiate Ukraine-Russia deal that’s ‘good for both sides’ during Zelenskyy meeting

In his first face-to-face meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in more than four years, Donald Trump said he’d work with Ukraine and Russia to find a solution that’s “good for both sides” to end the war and emphasized he has strong relationships with both the Ukrainian president and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have a very good relationship. I also have a very good relationship with President Putin and you know, I think if we win we’re going to get it resolved very quickly,” Trump said.

The exchange Friday in New York ahead of a private meeting between the two leaders elicited pushback from Zelenskyy, who interjected: “I hope we have more good relations with us.”

The joint appearance at Trump Tower comes as the former president has criticized Zelenskyy on the campaign trail, saying this week the Ukrainian leader was “making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me,” and denigrating him as the “greatest salesman on Earth.”

Zelenskyy, who was in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly and meet with U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill — as well as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House — had spent several days shoring up support for Ukraine’s long war with Russia, which escalated the conflict two years ago by invading the country.

Trump claims ‘very good relationship’ with Putin during Zelenskyy visit

Trump, who often says Russia never would have invaded Ukraine if he was president at the time, emphasized Friday that, if elected, he’d work with both sides to “get this settled” but indicated any negotiation would also benefit Russia. During his debate with Harris two weeks ago, Trump also declined to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war.

“We can work out something that’s good for both sides, it’s time. And by the way, the president wants to get something done, he doesn’t want to do this,” Trump said Friday, while Zelenskyy stood just inches away.

And when Zelenskyy cut in to say that Trump has a better relationship with Ukraine than Russia, Trump replied: “Ah, I see. But, it takes two to tango.”

“I think the fact that we’re even together today is a good sign, and hopefully we’ll have a good victory because if the other side wins, I don’t think we’re going to have victories with anything, to be honest with you,” Trump said.

The 2024 presidential election could have a significant impact on the war in Ukraine. While Democrats have continued to vow support for Ukraine in its effort to defeat Russia, Trump and some of his Republican colleagues have been deeply skeptical of aid to Kyiv. The former president said that he would work to strike a deal between the warring countries.

Zelenskyy said to the press during the joint appearance he wanted to share “all the plans, all the steps” and said we “have to” stop Putin. “We will try on the battlefield with our heroic soldiers. And we understand after November we have to decide and we hope with the strength of the United States we will be very strong, and we count on it. That’s why I have decided to meet with both candidates.”

Republicans have criticized Zelenskyy this week after he made critical comments about Trump’s running mate Sen. JD Vance during a recently published interview and toured the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, which is making ammunition for the Ukrainian army, with several Democrats, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whom Harris considered as a potential running mate.

The Scranton visit prompted House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) to open a probe into the trip and Speaker Mike Johnson to call for Zelenskyy to fire his ambassador to the U.S. for arranging the trip. Johnson, who did not meet with Zelenskyy this week, claimed in a letter no Republicans were invited on the visit to the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania.

The Ukrainian leader told the New Yorker that Vance is “too radical” with his opposition to U.S. aid to Kyiv and said Trump “doesn’t really know” how to end the war.

“My feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how,” Zelenskyy told the New Yorker. “With this war, oftentimes, the deeper you look at it the less you understand. I’ve seen many leaders who were convinced they knew how to end it tomorrow, and as they waded deeper into it, they realized it’s not that simple.”

Trump and Zelenskyy have had a complicated relationship since Trump was in the White House and withheld military aid to Ukraine to try to pressure the Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden and his son Hunter’s business dealings. Trump said there was “no quid pro quo,” but the conversation launched a formal impeachment inquiry by the House on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

On Friday, Trump praised Zelenskyy for not being “cute” and for saying “President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong” about the phone call that caused the first impeachment.

Trump was joined at the meeting with Ric Grenell, an adviser to the former president and the former acting director of National Intelligence, and his top campaign advisers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles. It was the first time Trump and Zelenskyy had met in person since a White House visit in 2019, although the two have spoken on the phone since then.

It is typical for foreign leaders to seek meetings with presidential candidates from both parties ahead of an election. Trump met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for a two-hour dinner in New York on Thursday night and also planned to meet with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. On Sunday, Trump met with the prime minister of Qatar at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Following their meeting Friday, Trump said he “learned a lot” and claimed that if he wins, Ukraine and Russia will reach “a very fair and I think, actually, a rather rapid deal,” but said it was “too early” to share his plans to end the war.