After a week of exchanged reproaches, Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump finally met this morning at Trump Tower in New York. “It is an honor to have the president with us. He’s been through a lot, like probably no one else in history. We are going to have a debate and see what comes out of it,” the Republican said in a brief statement to the media before locking himself in to speak with his team. “I think we have a common vision that the war in Ukraine must be stopped, that Vladimir Putin cannot win and that Ukraine must prevail,” Zelensky responded: “And I want to discuss with you the details of our victory plan.”
The president of Ukraine is aware that, in the event of a Republican victory in the November elections, his country runs the risk of losing the economic and military support that has allowed it to resist the Russian invasion for almost three years. “It is very important to share our plan to strengthen Ukraine. We have to decide now, because after November, we do not know who will be the president,” he acknowledged, “that is why I have decided to meet with both candidates.”
Read also
The meeting comes one day after the meetings that Zelensky held in the White House with President Joe Biden and the vice president and Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, in which he also presented his “victory plan,” which includes the authorization of the use of long-range missiles deep into Russian territory and the immediate admission of Ukraine to NATO, two proposals that Biden continues to resist for fear of escalation. Shortly before the meeting, the president announced a new aid package valued at $7.9 billion.
Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump, meeting in New York
Zelensky’s meeting with the man who leads the opposition to this assistance, which already amounts to 52 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine, was presented as an opportunity to convince him that Russia poses a threat, not only to Ukraine, but to order. West and the strategic interest of the United States. Also, in line with his agenda during this week in the country, in which he gave a speech at the UN General Assembly, it has served to return media attention to a conflict that has been overshadowed by recent events in the East. Half. Perhaps for this reason, the meeting coincided with the speech of the Israeli Prime Minister, Beniamin Netanyahu, at the summit of the international organization.
“We have the strength of the United States,” he reminded the magnate, who lobbied for six months to block the approval in Congress of a military aid package valued at $61 billion. Although it was finally approved in April after a bipartisan agreement, the delay in that assistance dried up Kyiv’s tap during the winter, in which it suffered significant territorial losses.
Read also
For Trump, a man who has praised Russian leader Putin throughout his decade in politics, the photo serves to send the message that he also cares about Ukraine, even though his immediate peace plan for war will necessarily involve the transfer of territory. “The war has to end. This country has been through hell like no other. It is a terrible situation,” he said, “we have a very good relationship, and, as you know, I also get along very well with President Putin. So, if we win, we are going to solve it very quickly.”
After their brief half-hour meeting, both spoke to the conservative network Fox News. “Putin wants the conflict to end as soon as possible and a fair transaction to take place,” Trump insisted. “If I win, we will have a very fair agreement and I think quite quickly. The president wants it to end and I’m sure Putin does too. “That is a good combination, so we will reach a fair agreement for everyone.” Zelensky’s response has shown the disparate view regarding Putin: “This war should not have started, Putin has killed too many people. “We have to do everything possible to stop this war, but it continues in our territory.”
The last time the two met was five years ago, also in another meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in the midst of an investigation by Democrats in Congress to carry out the first impeachment against Trump. The then president had pressured the leader of Ukraine to investigate a possible influence peddling scheme related to Biden’s son and expose the dirty laundry of his businesses. Although the impeachment trial was successful in the House of Representatives, the Senate finally acquitted him.
Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine
“I think we have a common vision that the war must be stopped, that Putin cannot win and that Ukraine must prevail.”
Since then, the relationship between the two has been tense, although they spoke by phone in July of this year, shortly after the first assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Until yesterday, the meeting seemed unlikely, in light of the public comments of both politicians in recent months, and especially this week.
Both teams had been contemplating the possibility of meeting for days, but this seemed to fade after Zelensky visited a weapons factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden’s hometown, on Sunday, along with the state’s governor, Josh Shapiro. Republicans interpreted that visit to a key state as “electoral interference” and, in response, the president of the House of Representatives, Trumpist Mike Johnson, demanded by letter the immediate dismissal of the Ukrainian ambassador in Washington, Oksana Makarova.
In all the events this week, Trump has harshly criticized Zelensky, even blaming him for the war with Russia. “We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal,” he said during a speech in North Carolina, insisting that if he wins the election, he will end the war immediately. Asked how he intends to do it, he said yesterday that “I don’t want to answer that question.”
Before their meeting at the White House, yesterday Vice President Kamala Harris forcefully criticized Trump’s exit from the war, whose proposals “are the same as Putin’s and, let’s be clear, they are not peace proposals. On the contrary, , are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.”
Read also
In another of his events, Trump referred to Zelensky as “the greatest salesman in history.” Every time he comes to our country, he leaves with 60 billion dollars. “He is hoping that (the Democrats) win the elections,” he added, and reproached him for “he is in our country making unpleasant insinuations toward your favorite president: me.”
The Republican was responding to the words that Zelensky had dedicated to him in an interview with the weekly New Yorker, in which he assured that Trump “really doesn’t know how to end the war” and called his number two, JD Vance, “too radical” for his peace proposal, which would include the creation of a demilitarized zone in the invaded part of Ukraine, which would favor Putin’s interests. “Read the history of World War II, when a country was forced to cede much of its territory to a particular person,” Zelensky recommended to Vance: “What did that man do? Did it appease or deal a devastating blow to the European continent?”