Donald Trump has announced his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York, following criticisms of the Ukrainian president and doubts about Ukraine’s ability to defeat Russia. The announcement came just hours after US President Joe Biden unveiled over $8bn in new military assistance for Kyiv and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic rival, met Zelenskyy and promised her “unwavering” support. Trump has questioned the scale of US backing for Ukraine and said the country should have made a deal with Russia when Moscow began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Trump reiterated his claims that he could secure a peace deal and said that Ukraine might have to cede territory to reach an agreement with Moscow. Harris pledged support for Ukraine and referred to Trump as those who would have Ukraine swap land for peace with Russia as supporting “proposals of surrender.” Trump and Zelenskyy have not met in person since Trump’s term ended in 2021, although they spoke on the phone in July.
Earlier this week, Trump appeared to reject Zelenskyy’s request for a meeting, as the Ukrainian leader had said he hoped to present his “victory plan” to win the war with Russia. However, Zelenskyy upset Trump’s campaign after visiting a munitions factory in Pennsylvania with Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and a Harris ally. Trump has continued to criticize Zelenskyy on the campaign trail, calling the Eastern European nation “dead” and “demolished” and hinted at disagreement with Zelenskyy’s recent comments to The New Yorker magazine.
