Donald Trump has announced that he will be meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York on Friday. The meeting will take place at Trump Tower around 09:45 ET (14:45 BST). Despite earlier reports of its cancellation, the meeting is still scheduled to happen, despite growing anger from senior Republicans. This comes after Zelensky’s visit to the key swing state of Pennsylvania, which has caused tension within the Republican party.
Zelensky had previously met with US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris at the White House to discuss his “victory plan” for ending the war in Ukraine. Trump expressed his sympathy for the situation in Ukraine, stating that there have been many deaths and destruction. He also believes that he can make a deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky quickly, but did not provide any details on what that deal would look like.
During the news conference, Trump was asked about the possibility of Ukraine ceding land to Russia to end the war. He did not directly answer the question, but instead emphasized the need for peace and to stop the death and destruction. The meeting between Trump and Zelensky comes amid tension between the Ukrainian president and the Republican party ahead of the US presidential election in November.
Some Republicans were angered by Zelensky’s visit to an arms factory in Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, with top Democrats this week. They labeled it as a partisan campaign event and accused Zelensky of interfering in the election. Trump and Zelensky have a complicated relationship, with Trump being impeached in 2019 for pressuring Ukraine’s leader to dig up damaging information on a political rival. Zelensky has also recently expressed his belief that Trump “doesn’t really know how to stop the war”.