President Trump said Thursday that he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday in New York City.
The meeting will take place at Trump Tower.
JUST IN – Trump: "Zelensky has asked to meet with me, and I will be meeting with him tomorrow morning at around 9:45 in Trump Tower"
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) September 26, 2024
Per NBC News:
Trump was previously not expected to meet with Zelenskyy, who has already held meetings on Thursday with both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Both Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, have been critical of the U.S. aid to Ukraine.
“It’s a shame what’s happening in Ukraine: so many deaths, so much destruction. It’s a horrible thing,” Trump said Thursday. “And one of the things that are very bothersome to me is the fact that Europe is paying only a small fraction of the money that the United States of America is paying, and we have an ocean between Russia and ourselves. They don’t.”
This will be the first time the two men will have met since Trump was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House in 2019 over his efforts to pressure Zelenskyy to open an investigation into the Bidens.
Trump shared this message Thursday on Truth Social.
WATCH:
🚨President Trump announces a meeting with President Zelensky tomorrow morning. pic.twitter.com/M19dUX7K6E
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 26, 2024
CNN reports:
Friday’s meeting comes at a pivotal moment for Zelensky ahead of November’s US election. He’s sought this week to convince the Biden administration that his country can still win the war, so long as the US and other countries significantly and quickly ramp up military assistance.
Trump has repeatedly complained about the funding the US has provided for Ukraine and claimed he will quickly end the war between the two sides, which began with Russia’s unprovoked invasion in February 2022. Zelensky said this week that Trump doesn’t know how to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“I look forward to seeing him,” Trump said Thursday. “We’ll see — I do believe I disagree with him — well, he doesn’t know me. I disagree, but I will say this: I believe I will be able to make a deal between President Putin and President Zelensky quite quickly.”
Zelensky met at the White House on Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Democratic nominee used the appearance to draw a stark contrast with Trump on Ukraine.
“There are some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality and would require Ukraine to forego security relationships with other nations,” Harris said.