'Zelenskyy's gone through hell': Trump vows to end war 'very quickly' as he meets Ukrainian leader

During his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, former US President Donald Trump vowed to resolve the ongoing conflict “very quickly”. Trump met the Ukrainian leader in New York in a bid to repair ties. The two men met at the Trump Tower on Friday.

“We have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin,” Trump said as he stood next to Zelenskyy before the meeting. “And I think if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly … I really think we’re going to get it … but, you know, it takes two to tango,” he added.

Going into the meeting, the Ukrainian president recalled that he last met Trump in person five years ago. “I think we have a common view that the war in Ukraine has to be stopped, and Putin can’t win, and Ukraine has to prevail,” Zelenskyy said. “And I want to discuss with you the details of our plan.” The meeting took place just a day after the two leaders were involved in a war of words over their disagreement in regard to how they would like to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

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The last time Trump and Zelenskyy met was before the former US President was impeached for asking Zelenskyy in a 2019 phone call to investigate Joe Biden and his son. The authorities accused Trump of attempting to influence the outcome of the 2020 US Presidential Elections. However, Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

In his opening remarks, the Republican presidential nominee thanked Zelenskyy for what he said in support of him during the 2019 scandal. “One of the reasons we won it so easily is that when he [Zelenskyy] was asked … he could have grandstanded and played cute, and he didn’t do that,” Trump said. “He said President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong. He said it loud and clear, and the impeachment hoax died right there.”

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I had a very productive meeting with @realDonaldTrump. I presented him our Victory Plan, and we thoroughly reviewed the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the war for our people. Many details were discussed. I am grateful for this meeting. A just peace is needed.

We… pic.twitter.com/33t0kghTle

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 27, 2024

In October 2019, Zelenskyy told reporters that there was “no blackmailing” on Trump’s end. During the meeting, Trump insisted that Zelenskyy has “gone through hell” emphasizing that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has to end. Their meeting lasted for less than an hour and Zelenskyy later described the meeting as “very productive”.

“I had a very productive meeting with @realDonaldTrump. I presented him with our Victory Plan, and we thoroughly reviewed the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the war for our people. Many details were discussed. I am grateful for this meeting. A just peace is needed,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We share the common view that the war in Ukraine must be stopped. Putin cannot win. Ukrainians must prevail,” he added. The meeting was conducted on the sidelines of Zelenskyy’s US visit, where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly.

What happened when Zelenskyy met Trump’s rival

Days before Zelenskyy met Trump, he visited the White House to lay out his victory plan in front of US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris indirectly decried Trump and his campaign’s problematic proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine war as she met Zelenskyy.

During her talks with the Ukrainian leader, the Democratic Presidential nominee referred to the Trump campaign’s idea as “the proposal to surrender.” Addressing Zelenskyy in the White House, Harris said “some in my country” would pressure Ukraine to accept a peace deal in which it surrendered its sovereign territory and neutrality in order to make peace with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“These proposals are the same as those of Putin, and let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace,” she said. “Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.” While Harris did not explicitly take the names of her GOP rival Trump and his VP pick JD Vance, the proposal that she called out was oddly similar to the one proposed by the Republican duo.

As both Zelenskyy and Trump claimed that the meeting was productive, it will be interesting to see if the former president would change his plans for the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

With inputs from agencies.