Washington DC: The world is looking upto the momentous Trump-Zelenskyy meeting which is arranged for 09:45 ET (14:45 BST) on 27th September at the Trump Tower. The meeting is in line with the Ukrainian President’s high-profile visit to Washington, D.C.
Former President Donald Trump agreed with the meeting after Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris. White house discussion follows Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia and his “victory plan” aimed at pressuring Moscow into negotiating a diplomatic end to the war. During the White House meeting, Biden supported an additional $7.9 billion (£ 5.8 Billion) military aid package for Ukraine.
Trump showcased his belief that he could pave the way for a resolution to the war between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump recommended that, “President Zelensky has asked to meet with me, and I will be meeting with him tomorrow morning. It’s a shame what’s happening in Ukraine. So many deaths, so much destruction. It’s a horrible thing.”
Trump indicated his ability to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine “quite quickly” but declined to provide specific details. When pressed on what his deal might entail, Trump simply stated that, “I don’t want to tell you what that looks like.”
The former president has consistently criticised the Biden administration’s approach to the Ukraine crisis and has raised concerns about continued U.S. financial support for Kyiv. Recently, he has sharpened his rhetoric against Zelensky, referring to the Ukrainian president as the “greatest salesman on Earth.”
Republican criticise over Zelensky’s visit
The meeting between Trump and Zelensky comes under rising tensions between the Ukrainian leader and the Republican Party ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Some Republicans have expressed outrage over Zelensky’s visit to an arms factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, President Biden’s hometown calling it a partisan political move.
House Speaker Mike Johnson openly criticised the visit, accusing Zelensky of “election interference” in a letter that framed the event as designed to benefit Democrats. Republican doubts towards U.S. military aid to Ukraine have also been growing, with some within the party pushing for Kyiv to cede territory to Russia in exchange for peace.
Vice-President Harris, standing beside Zelensky at the White House, addressed the issue directly by stating that, “There are some in my country that would force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory. These proposals are the same as those of Putin’s proposals for surrender.”
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