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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky painted his meeting last week with Donald Trump as a success that yielded progress on acquiring new air defence systems, a contrast from reports that Trump had berated him with obscenities in the White House.
In comments made to media on Sunday initially off-the-record but authorised for publication on Monday, the Ukrainian leader described Trump’s message at the meeting, which ended with Trump calling for a ceasefire with forces in place, as “positive”.
As a result of Zelensky’s visit to Washington, Ukraine was now preparing a contract to buy 25 Patriot air defence systems, a major boost to its defences against Russian missile attacks, Zelensky said.
Zelensky was speaking before Reuters and other news organisations reported that Trump had pushed Zelenskiy to give up territory during their meeting, which sources described as more tense than initially disclosed.
TRUMP’S ‘MESSAGE IN MY VIEW IS POSITIVE’, ZELENSKY SAYS
“After many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with (Trump) and his team, his message, in my view, is positive: that we stand where we stand on the front line,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine and its allies have long called for an immediate ceasefire with troops in place, while Moscow has demanded Ukraine cede further territory before it would halt fighting.
Zelensky did not specify how close Ukraine had come to signing the contract for the 25 Patriots, but he said that a great deal of time on his trip had been spent discussing the issue, including directly with Trump.
Zelensky did not achieve his stated aim of persuading Washington to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles for long-range attacks inside Russia. Zelensky said he believed this was because Trump did not want to take steps that would anger Vladimir Putin shortly before a plan to meet the Russian president at a summit.
Zelensky has spent half a year rebuilding his relationship with Trump since a disastrous meeting in February, in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian leader in front of cameras in the White House Oval Office.
Zelensky returned to the White House on Friday to meet Trump, a day after Trump spoke by telephone to Putin.
Three sources described Trump’s meeting with Zelenskiy as tense, with Trump repeatedly using profanity.
“It was pretty bad,” one of the sources said of the meeting. “The message was, ‘Your country will freeze, and your country will be destroyed’” if Ukraine doesn’t make a deal with Russia.
It was the latest apparent shift in positions for Trump, who had said for months that Ukraine must give up territory to make peace, only to describe Russia last month as a “paper tiger” and say Ukraine could potentially win back all its land.
Trump and Putin are planning to meet in Budapest, capital of Hungary, a NATO and EU member that has maintained warm relations with Moscow throughout the Ukraine war.
Zelensky criticised the choice of venue, suggesting that Hungary’s domestic politics had played a role in the choice: “We are talking about peace in Ukraine, not elections in Hungary”. However, he said that he would be willing to attend talks there if he were to be invited.