Zelensky fails to provide Tomahawk missiles to Trump talks

President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to walk away empty-handed from a meeting at the White House after US President Donald Trump indicated he was not ready to deliver the sought-after Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Zelensky said after the cordial bilateral meeting that he and Trump had talked about long-range missiles but had decided not to make statements on the issue “because the United States does not want escalation.”

After the meeting, Trump took to social media to call on Kiev and Moscow to “stop where they are” and end the war.

The Trump-Zelensky meeting came a day after Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to meet him soon in Hungary.

Zelensky believes that using the Tomahawks to strike Russian oil and energy facilities will seriously weaken Putin’s military economy.

Although Trump did not rule him out, his tone at the White House on Friday was non-committal.

“Hopefully they won’t need it, hopefully we can end the war without thinking about Tomahawks,” the US president said, adding: “I think we’re pretty close to that.”

He described the weapons as a “big deal” and said the US needed them for its own defense. He also said that the delivery of Tomahawks to Ukraine could mean a further escalation of the conflict, but that discussions about sending them would continue.

Asked by the BBC whether the Tomahawks prompted Putin to meet Trump, the US president said: “The threat of it (missiles) is good, but the threat of it is always there.”

The Ukrainian leader suggested his country could offer drones in exchange for the Tomahawks, prompting smiles and nods from Trump.

Zelensky also praised Trump for his role in securing the first phase of a Middle East peace deal, suggesting the US leader could build on that momentum to help end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

After the meeting, Zelensky was asked by a reporter outside the White House if he thought Putin wanted a deal or was simply buying time with the planned meeting with Trump in Budapest.

“I don’t know,” he said, adding that the prospect of Ukraine having Tomahawks made Russia “scared because it’s a powerful weapon.”

Asked if he was leaving Washington more optimistic that Ukraine would get the tomahawks, he said: “I’m a realist.”

The Ukrainian leader also seems to suggest that he will cave in to Trump’s offer to stop the war on the current front line.

“We have to stop where we are, he is right, the president is right,” Zelensky said. He added that the next step would be “to talk”.

He later posted on X that he had called European leaders to share details of the meeting with Trump, adding that “the main priority now is to protect as many lives as possible, to ensure the security of Ukraine and to strengthen all of us in Europe.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the conversation with European leaders had been “productive” and pledged that “the UK will continue to send humanitarian aid and military support”.

While Trump has shown openness to the idea of ​​selling the Tomahawks in recent days, Putin has warned that such a move would further strain US-Russian relations.

On Thursday, Trump said “great progress” had been made during a phone call with Putin, with the two agreeing to hold face-to-face talks soon in Hungary – although no date has been set.

Asked by a reporter on Friday if he was concerned that Putin might be buying time by agreeing to another summit, Trump said: “I am.”

“But I’ve been played by the best of them all my life and I’ve come out really well. So it’s possible, a little while, it’s all right. But I think I’m pretty good at this stuff. I think he wants to make a deal,” he said.

To another reporter’s question whether Zelensky would participate in future talks in Budapest, Trump – who was seated next to the Ukrainian president – said there was “bad blood” between Putin and Zelensky.

“We want to make it convenient for everybody,” Trump said. “There will be three of us, but it can be split up.” He added that the three leaders “must come together”.

The US president said his conversation, the first with Putin since mid-August, had been “very productive”, adding that teams from Washington and Moscow would meet next week.

Trump had hoped a face-to-face summit in Alaska in August would help persuade Putin to open comprehensive peace talks to end the war, but that meeting failed to produce a decisive breakthrough.

They spoke again days later when Trump broke off a meeting with Zelensky and European leaders to call Putin.

Back in Ukraine, the BBC spoke on Friday to a couple who are renovating the small shop they own in a suburb of Kiev after it was destroyed by Russian missiles last month.

When store owner Volodymyr was asked about Trump’s upcoming summit with Putin, he began by saying, “We appreciate all the support.”

But he pulled away as tears welled up in his eyes. After a long pause he recovered and started again.

“Truth and democracy will prevail and all terrorism and evil will disappear,” he said. “We just want to live, we don’t want to surrender, we just want to be left alone.”