Before the closed part of the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky, a briefing with journalists took place.
Donald Trump stated that during yesterday's phone conversation with Putin, he realized that the Kremlin wants to end the war, as does Vladimir Zelensky, noting that the war between Russia and Ukraine will be the ninth conflict he resolves. He once again recalled how he was not awarded the Nobel Prize.
"I ended eight wars, and each time I was told: 'End the next one — you'll get the Nobel Prize,' but the prize was never given," he said, adding that he just "wants to save lives."
The President of Ukraine, in turn, stated that Putin does not intend to end the hostilities, after which he offered the US "thousands of drones" if Washington allows Ukraine to use "Tomahawk" missiles.
When asked if he is interested in this offer, Trump replied: "Yes, I would be [interested]. We have a lot of drones right now. We are building our own drones, but also buying drones from others, and they [Ukraine] make very good drones." At the same time, the US President noted that strikes deep into Russia are an escalation, but he will discuss this issue with Zelensky.
When asked what targets Ukraine will strike if the US transfers "Tomahawk" missiles to Kyiv, Vladimir Zelensky stated that "only military targets."
The US President also reported that the Russia-US summit in Hungary will be bilateral, but Vladimir Zelensky will be in contact. When asked by a journalist if Trump is concerned that Putin is just trying to buy time, he stated: "I am concerned, I've been manipulated by the best of them all my life. I handled it well. It's possible, a little time, nothing terrible."
In addition to discussing the end of the war, Trump called the proposal of the head of RDIF Kirill Dmitriev to build a tunnel between Russia and Alaska "interesting." Earlier, Dmitriev proposed to Elon Musk to build the "Putin-Trump tunnel" under the Bering Strait.
Photo: The New York Times