President Donald Trump has called for Russia and Ukraine to “stop where they are” and quit fighting after concluding talks in Washington Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Taking to Truth Social late Friday afternoon, Trump wrote that “it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL! Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!”
“No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent,” Trump continued. “This is a War that would have never started if I were President. Thousands of people being slaughtered each and every week — NO MORE, GO HOME TO YOUR FAMILIES IN PEACE!”
Zelenskyy has said in the past that Ukraine would not “gift their land to Russia,” and ceding land to Moscow requires approval in a nationwide referendum.
Trump and Zelenskyy held a working lunch early Friday afternoon that lasted more than two hours, with Zelenskyy making a call to European strategic partners in the so-called “coalition of the willing” after the White House talks.
Asked about Trump’s post late Friday, Zelenskyy said that the American president was right that both sides need to “stop where we are, and then to speak,” referring to negotiations.
Zelenskyy also told reporters at Blair House that he believes a ceasefire is the most important first step to ending the war.
“I am sure that we will have negotiations,” he said, adding that Kyiv is counting on President Trump to pressure President Vladimir Putin to halt the Russian invasion.
“Ukraine didn’t begin this war,” said Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian president came to the White House on a mission to convince the United States to provide Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine that can reach deep inside Russian territory.
Trump told reporters Friday that he was hesitant to tap into the U.S. supply. The news was a turnabout after days of Trump suggesting that he was seriously considering the idea of sending the missiles to help Ukraine.
“I have an obligation also to make sure that we’re completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what’s going to happen in war and peace,” Trump said.
Asked whether he is optimistic or pessimistic about getting the Tomahawks in the future, Zelenskyy said he is “realistic” about the possibility of Kyiv receiving the missiles.
Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told Defense News on Friday that there are better U.S. weapons to give the Ukrainians that would still provide them with a range on the battlefield between 300-700 kilometers (roughly (186-435 miles), including long range surface-to-surface missiles known as ATACMS and the new and affordable Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) built specifically for Ukraine that launches from F-16 fighter jets.
“That’s how you put pressure on Vladimir Putin — weapons that stretch his forces mean that he can never win,” Montgomery said.
On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Moscow during a Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters that if its war on Ukraine does not come to an end, the U.S. and NATO allies would “impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression.”
“Firepower, that’s what is coming,” he said in a reference to European nations’ purchases of U.S. weapons for Ukraine.
There have been very few changes to the front lines this year, according to the Institute for the Study of War, even as Russia continues to target Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones.
Speaking to Defense News last month, Congressman Don Bacon (R-NE) said Russia has only taken 1% of Ukraine in the last two years while suffering heavy casualties on the battlefield.
Zelenskyy told reporters he stressed the necessity of United States security guarantees during the lunch at the White House on Friday.
“We need strong security guarantees because I’m afraid, and I think that our nation is afraid that if we will have [a] ceasefire, we need security guarantees from [the] United States that Putin will not come again with aggression.”
The meeting came a day after Trump held a phone call with Putin to discuss the conflict. The two agreed during the call to meet in Budapest, Hungary, within the next two weeks.
Ukrainian advocacy groups are skeptical that the meeting will lead to real results, pointing to the recent meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska as evidence that Putin is insincere about peace talks.
“Putin’s word is not worth a dime. His offer to meet President Trump in Budapest is classic delay tactics, something we’ve seen time and again,” said Ostap Yarysh, the media advisor for the advocacy group Razom for Ukraine.
Read the full article here
