Former President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Trump Tower in New York City on Friday, following President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s meeting with the European leader the day before, where they announced an additional $8 billion in military aid for Ukraine.
This meeting comes after Zelensky labeled Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), as “too radical” and expressed skepticism about Trump’s plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. The conflict has now entered its 31st month, with Russian and Ukrainian forces engaged in battles over southern and eastern Ukraine.
Donald Trump meets Zelensky in New York.
"We're gonna have a good meeting." pic.twitter.com/uSUQt8HJST
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 27, 2024
Trump has vowed to bring an end to the violence in Ukraine if elected president. Before meeting with Zelensky, he stated, “We’re going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled,” as reported by The Hill.
“We have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin. And I think if we win I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly,” Trump added, with Zelensky responding, “I hope we have more good relations.”
“But it takes two to tango, you know, and we’re going to have a good meeting today,” Trump continued. “And I think the fact that we’re even together today is a very good sign.”
Zelensky remarked to The New Yorker earlier this week, “Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.”
“With this war, oftentimes, the deeper you look at it the less you understand,” Zelensky said. “I’ve seen many leaders who were convinced they knew how to end it tomorrow, and as they waded deeper into it, they realized it’s not that simple.”
The Ukrainian president also criticized Vance as “too radical,” arguing that the Republican vice presidential candidate’s stance suggests that Ukraine must make sacrifices.
At a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump criticized Zelensky for “making little nasty aspersions” toward him. He referred to Zelensky as the “greatest salesman on Earth,” adding, “Those buildings are down. Those cities are gone. They’re gone. And we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal.”
Some conservatives have accused Zelensky of “election interference” after he appeared with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) at a factory in Pennsylvania, a battleground state, earlier this week. During their visit, Shapiro signed an artillery shell being sent to Ukraine.
“The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because – on purpose – no Republicans were invited. The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wrote in a letter to Zelensky.