Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, sits earlier than a gathering with President Donald Trump, from proper, Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent within the Cupboard Room of the White Home, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
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Alex Brandon/AP
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday known as on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” and finish their brutal conflict following a prolonged White Home assembly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump’s frustration with the battle has surfaced repeatedly within the 9 months since he returned to workplace, however along with his newest feedback he edged again within the route of urgent Ukraine to surrender on retaking land it has misplaced to Russia.
“Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts,” Trump mentioned in a Reality Social submit not lengthy after internet hosting Zelenskyy and his workforce for greater than two hours of talks. “They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!”
Later, quickly after arriving in Florida, the place he is spending the weekend, Trump urged each side to “stop the war immediately” and implied that Moscow hold territory it is taken from Kyiv.
“You go by the battle line wherever it is — otherwise it’s too complicated,” Trump informed reporters. “You stop at the battle line and both sides should go home, go to their families, stop the killing, and that should be it.”
The feedback amounted to a different shift in place on the conflict by Trump. In current weeks, he had proven rising impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed higher openness to serving to Ukraine win the conflict.
After assembly with Zelenskyy in New York on the sidelines of the annual U.N. Common Meeting final month, Trump even mentioned he believed the Ukrainians might win again all of the the territory that they had misplaced to Russia since Putin launched the February 2022 invasion. That was a dramatic shift for Trump, who had beforehand insisted that Kyiv must concede land misplaced to Russia to finish the conflict.
Zelenskyy after Friday’s assembly mentioned it was time for a ceasefire and negotiations. He sidestepped straight answering a query about Trump nudging Ukraine to surrender land.
“The president is right we have to stop where we are, and then to speak,” Zelenskyy mentioned when requested by reporters about Trump’s social media submit, which he hadn’t seen.
One other change in tone
Trump’s tone on the conflict shifted after he held a prolonged telephone name with Putin on Thursday and introduced that he deliberate to fulfill with the Russian chief in Budapest, Hungary, within the coming weeks.
President Donald Trump, second proper, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seated left, sit as reporters ask questions earlier than a lunch within the Cupboard Room of the White Home, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Washington.
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The president additionally signaled to Zelenskyy on Friday that he is leaning in opposition to promoting him long-range Tomahawk missiles, weaponry that the Ukrainians consider may very well be a sport changer in serving to prod Putin to the negotiating desk.
Zelenskyy in the beginning of the White Home talks mentioned he had a “proposition” wherein Ukraine might present the USA with its superior drones, whereas Washington would promote Kyiv the Tomahawk cruise missiles.
However Trump mentioned he was hesitant to faucet into the U.S. provide, a turnabout after days of suggesting he was critically weighing sending the missiles to assist Ukraine beat again Russia’s invasion.
“I have an obligation also to make sure that we’re completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what’s going to happen in war and peace,” Trump mentioned. “We’d much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We’d much rather have the war be over to be honest.”
In an interview with Kristen Welker of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Zelenskyy instructed the door was not closed.
“It’s good that President Trump didn’t say ‘no,’ but for today, didn’t say ‘yes,'” he mentioned.
Zelenskyy additionally mentioned “we need Tomahawks” as a result of “it’s very difficult just to operate only with Ukrainian drones.”
Trump’s newest rhetoric on Tomahawks was definitely disappointing to the Ukrainians. In current days, Trump had proven an openness to promoting Ukraine the Tomahawks, at the same time as Putin warned that such a transfer would additional pressure the U.S.-Russian relationship.
Why Tomahawks?
However following Thursday’s name with Putin, Trump started downplaying the prospects of Ukraine getting the missiles, which have a spread of about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers.)
Zelenskyy had been looking for the Tomahawks, which might permit Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and goal key army websites, vitality amenities and important infrastructure. Zelenskyy has argued that the potential for such strikes would assist compel Putin to take Trump’s requires direct negotiations to finish the conflict extra critically.
Putin warned Trump throughout the name that supplying Kyiv with the Tomahawks “won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but would cause substantial damage to the relationship between our countries,” in line with Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s international coverage adviser.
It was the fifth face-to-face assembly for Trump and Zelenskyy because the Republican returned to workplace in January,
The president mentioned Friday it was “to be determined” if Zelenskyy could be concerned within the upcoming talks in Hungary — suggesting a “double meeting” with the warring international locations’ leaders was probably essentially the most workable possibility for productive negotiations.
“These two leaders do not like each other, and we want to make it comfortable for everybody,” Trump added.
However Zelenskyy informed reporters that the animus towards Putin “is not about feelings.”
“They attacked us, so they are an enemy for us. They don’t intend to stop,” Zelenskyy added. “So they are an enemy. It is not about someone just hating someone else. Although, undoubtedly, we hate the enemy. Undoubtedly.”
Trump, going again to his 2024 marketing campaign, insisted he would shortly finish the conflict, however his peace efforts appeared to stall following a diplomatic blitz in August, when he held a summit with Putin in Alaska and a White Home assembly with Zelenskyy and European allies.
Trump emerged from these conferences sure he was on observe to arranging direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin. However the Russian chief hasn’t proven any curiosity in assembly with Zelenskyy and Moscow has solely intensified its bombardment of Ukraine.
Requested Friday if he was involved that Putin was stringing him alongside, Trump acknowledged it was a risk however mentioned he was assured he might deal with the Russian chief.
“I’ve been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well,” Trump mentioned. He added, “I think I’m pretty good at this stuff.”
