President Donald Trump said Friday that ‘tremendous bad blood’ between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin is delaying a peace deal in Ukraine despite the administration’s recent victory with calming tensions in Gaza.
‘They have tremendous bad blood. It’s really is what is holding up I think a settlement. I think we are going to get it done and we have to make it long-lasting, as I said in the Middle East, everlasting,’ Trump said Friday as he hosted Zelenskyy at the White House.
‘The Middle East is a much more complicated situation. You know, we had 59 countries involved, and every one of them agreed. And it’s, you know, it’s sort of amazing. Most people didn’t think that was doable. This is going to be something I really believe that’s going to get done. I had a very good talk yesterday with President Putin. I think he wants to get it done,’ Trump added.
Zelenskyy, sitting alongside Trump, said, ‘President Trump has a big chance now to finish this war.’
‘President Trump has really showed for the world that he can manage a ceasefire in the Middle East. And that’s why I hope that he will do this. And we will also have such big success. For Ukraine, it’s a big chance, and I hope that President Trump can manage it,’ Zelenskyy said.
Trump also said at one point during the meeting, ‘We need Tomahawks, and we need a lot of other things that we’ve been sending over the last four years to Ukraine.’
Trump and Zelenskyy’s meeting, which was announced earlier this week, unfolded a day after Trump held a phone call with Putin.
Zelenskyy has made clear his chief aim is to secure better defenses for Ukraine amid Russia’s constant aerial bombardments of civilian targets like cities, energy infrastructure and hospitals, and his big-ticket item is the American Tomahawk missile.
With the capability of hitting beyond even Moscow, the sophisticated high-precision long-range cruise missile could increase Ukraine’s ability to strike further into Russia and better target not only its military complex, but its oil industry, which has largely funded Putin’s war chest.
Following his call with Putin on Thursday, Trump said ‘great progress’ was made, but he did not provide any specifics on how progress was achieved, though the pair agreed to once again meet in person, this time in Hungary.
Though Trump said the pair discussed U.S.-Russia trade, he did not say whether U.S. aid to Ukraine was discussed, which appeared to be the impetus for the call earlier this week when he told reporters he ‘might have to speak’ with Putin regarding whether he wanted U.S. Tomahawks near his borders, in what appeared to be an implied threat.
But neither Tomahawks nor defensive aid were mentioned in the president’s account of the talks.
Though, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the issue was discussed and opposed by Putin.
‘Vladimir Putin reiterated his thesis that Tomahawks won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but they will cause significant damage to relations between our countries. Not to mention the prospects for a peaceful settlement,’ he told reporters following the call, according to Reuters.
Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X on Thursday that, ‘Nothing has changed for Russia – it is still terrorizing life in Ukraine.’
‘Therefore, every air defense system for Ukraine matters – it saves lives. Every decision that can strengthen us brings the end of the war closer,’ he added.
Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House Friday was his third this year. In his first visit in February, Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy sparred during their meeting.