Donald Trump said he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday in New York, one day after the White House hopeful slammed Ukraine’s leader for refusing to strike a deal with Russia over the war.
“President Zelensky has asked to meet with me, and I will be meeting with him tomorrow morning at around 9:45 in Trump Tower,” the Republican told reporters in New York.
“And it’s a shame what’s happening in Ukraine. So many deaths, so much destruction. It’s a horrible thing.”
Trump spoke hours after the Ukrainian president met with his US counterpart Joe Biden and Trump’s November election rival Kamala Harris at the White House.
Zelensky is in the United States this week participating in the UN General Assembly in New York.
Trump said “I look forward to seeing him tomorrow.”
But the Republican also suggested he was displeased with Zelensky’s recent comments to The New Yorker magazine in which Ukraine’s leader said he believed Trump “doesn’t really know how to stop the war.”
When asked about Zelensky’s comments by a reporter at the press conference, Trump said “I do believe I disagree with him. He doesn’t know me.”
“I believe I will be able to make a deal” to end the war, Trump added, repeating a longstanding claim that he would swiftly bring about an end to the conflict which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
