Donald Trump to Meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy Amid Ongoing Ukraine-Russia Conflict
WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, as the U.S. role in the Russia-Ukraine war becomes a key issue in the 2024 election.
"President Zelenskyy requested a meeting with me, and we’ll be sitting down tomorrow morning at around 9:45 at Trump Tower," Trump told reporters during a Thursday news conference. "What’s happening in Ukraine is tragic—so much death, so much destruction. It’s horrible."
Trump, the Republican nominee, added, "We need peace. We have to stop the death and destruction. Wouldn’t that be nice?"
Zelenskyy, currently in the U.S. for United Nations meetings, and his supporters have expressed concerns over Trump’s calls for peace, fearing they might involve Ukraine surrendering territory to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with The New Yorker, Zelenskyy criticized Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, labeling him “too radical” and rejecting the notion that ending the war should come at Ukraine’s expense.
Zelenskyy also questioned Trump’s ability to bring peace, stating, "My feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war, even if he thinks he does."
Trump has consistently claimed—without evidence—that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he were still president. He has criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine as wasteful and has avoided stating outright whether he wants Ukraine to win the war.
"Every time Zelenskyy comes to the U.S., he walks away with $100 billion," Trump said during a speech in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday. "He’s the best salesman in the world, but we’re stuck in this war unless I’m president."
Zelenskyy has already met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris during his U.S. visit. After her meeting with the Ukrainian leader, Harris appeared to criticize Trump, saying, “There are those in my country who would have Ukraine give up large portions of its sovereign territory, who would demand neutrality, and prevent Ukraine from building security partnerships with other nations.”
Harris, who has accused Trump of being too supportive of Putin, added, "These proposals echo those of Putin, and let’s be clear: they are not proposals for peace, but for surrender—dangerous and unacceptable."
As Trump and Zelenskyy prepared for their Friday meeting, some Republican leaders took issue with what they described as a partisan tone in Zelenskyy’s U.S. visit. Specifically, they criticized his trip to Pennsylvania, where he appeared alongside Democratic leaders in a key battleground state.
In a public letter, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called for the removal of Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., blaming the ambassador for arranging Zelenskyy’s visit to a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania. "The visit was clearly a partisan event meant to aid Democrats, and it constitutes election interference," Johnson said.
Trump and Zelenskyy have not met in person since Trump left office in 2021.
Trump’s interactions with Zelenskyy were at the center of his first impeachment in 2019, when the U.S. House of Representatives accused him of pressuring the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden in exchange for military aid. Trump was acquitted by the Senate in 2020.
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