Zelensky seeks weapons from Trump in shadow of Putin summit

WASHINGTON - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House on Oct 17 to plead to US President Donald Trump for Tomahawk missiles, but the US president’s focus on his next meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
in Budapest raised the possibility the Ukrainian leader may head home empty-handed.

Upon greeting Mr Zelensky outside the White House, Mr Trump nodded when asked by a reporter if he thought he could convince Mr Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

Prior to the private lunch meeting with Mr Zelensky, Mr Trump said the two leaders would discuss his call the previous day with Mr Putin.

“Things are coming along pretty well,” Mr Trump told reporters.

Mr Zelensky noted how difficult it has been to try and secure a ceasefire. “We want this. Putin doesn’t want (it),” he said.

‘We need Tomahawks’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice-President J.D. Vance, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, and Mr Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, sat on the president’s side of the table.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine has thousands of drones, but needs missiles. “We don’t have Tomahawks, that’s why we need Tomahawks.”

Mr Trump responded: “We’re going to be talking about Tomahawks,” Mr Trump said. “We’d much rather have them not need Tomahawks.”

He portrayed himself as a mediator and reiterated his belief that both sides seek a peace deal.

“I think President Zelensky wants it done, and I think President Putin wants it done. Now all they have to do is get along a little bit,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump announced the summit with Mr Putin on Oct 16 after a more than two-hour phone conversation with the Russian leader about Russia’s war in Ukraine, which he said was productive.

It was unclear what Mr Putin had told Mr Trump that prompted him to agree to the meeting, as their August summit in Alaska ended early with no major breakthrough.

The Kremlin said much needed to be decided
and that the summit might take place “a little later” than within the two-week period mentioned by Mr Trump.

Mr Trump’s conciliatory tone after the call with Mr Putin raised questions over the near-term likelihood of assistance to Ukraine and reignited European fears of a deal that suits Moscow. A spokesperson for the European Union said it welcomed the talks if they could help bring peace to Ukraine.

But the president also expressed affection for Mr Zelensky, at one point praising him for sporting a dark suit jacket after he was knocked earlier this year for visiting the White House without one.

“I think he looks beautiful in his jacket,” Mr Trump said. “I hope people notice ... it’s actually very stylish. I like it.”

War has intensified

The US president, who has campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, is eager to add to the list of conflicts he says he has been instrumental in ending.

More than three and a half years after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has ground out some territorial gains this year, but Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Oct 16 that the Russian offensive had failed.

Mr Putin earlier in October said his forces had taken almost 5,000 sq km of land in Ukraine in 2025 - equivalent to adding 1 per cent of Ukraine’s territory to the nearly 20 per cent already held.

Both sides have also escalated attacks on each other’s energy systems, and Russian drones and jets have strayed into Nato countries.

The White House had seemed in recent days to be increasingly frustrated with Mr Putin and leaning toward granting Mr Zelensky fresh support, including the Tomahawk missiles that Ukrainians say would help them inflict more damage to Russia’s war machine.

Mr Zelensky, who has had an up-and-down relationship with Mr Trump, said Mr Putin, who pressed ahead with assaults on Ukraine after meeting with Mr Trump in Alaska, was again playing for time.

“We can already see that Moscow is rushing to resume dialogue as soon as it hears about Tomahawks,” he wrote on X.

Ukrainians held out little hope for Zelensky’s talks with Mr Trump. “We have already gone through this, and we have not seen any tangible results,” said Olena Puchilo, 54, a social worker from Mykolaiv, adding that there was still room for miracles.

Analysts see talks as a delaying tactic

Mr Putin’s move was meant to make the US transfer of such weapons less likely, said Mr Max Bergmann, a Russia expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

“It does seem that Mr Putin’s outreach is perhaps designed to thwart the potential transfer of Tomahawks to Ukraine, so Putin is wanting to put that back in the box,” Mr Bergmann said. “It strikes me as sort of a stalling tactic.”

Mr Mykola Bielieskov, a senior analyst at Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian non-governmental organisation that is a major procurer of military equipment for the Ukrainian armed forces, said Tomahawk missiles would level a playing field that is tipped toward Russia, but that they would not be a silver bullet.

“We don’t expect Russia to crumble after one, two or three successful strikes,” Mr Bielieskov said. “But it’s about pressure, constant pressure. It’s about disrupting the military-industrial complex.”

Since taking office in January, Mr Trump has regularly threatened action against Russia, only to delay those steps after talks with Mr Putin. REUTERS