The meeting between the presidents of the USA and Ukraine at the White House was tough and tense, writes Axios, citing sources.
One of the sources said that the meeting «was not easy», and another simply said that «it was bad». «Trump made several sharp statements during the meeting, and at some points, it became a bit emotional», — said the second source.
During the meeting, Trump stated that he does not intend to supply Ukraine with long-range «Tomahawk» missiles, at least not now. According to two sources informed about the meeting, Zelensky hoped to leave Washington with commitments for new weapons for Ukraine, but found that Trump was in a completely different state of mind after a prolonged conversation with Vladimir Putin.
For Zelensky, it was crucial to secure commitments from Trump not only on «Tomahawks» but also on various weapon systems that Ukraine was striving to obtain. However, the US president did not take any commitments on arms supplies.
At the same time, Trump emphasized that the current US proposal for a diplomatic solution is for the war to end with frozen front lines.
As Axios writes, Trump made it clear that his priority now is diplomacy, and he believes that the supply of «Tomahawks» could undermine it.
The meeting ended abruptly after 2.5 hours. «I think we're done. Let's see what happens next week», — said Trump, referring to the planned talks between the USA and Russia.
After the meeting, Trump did not make any comments, limiting himself to calling the meeting «very interesting» and «friendly».
«We, of course, talked about long-range missiles. But the USA does not want this escalation», — acknowledged Zelensky after the meeting, adding that «it's good that President Trump didn't say „no“, but today he didn't say „yes“».
Photo: The New York Times