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Donald Trump has shown sympathy towards Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, describing him as “very nice” after meeting him on the sidelines of the Nato summit, while striking a tougher tone on Russia.
“Vladimir Putin really has to end that war. People are dying at levels and people haven’t seen before for a long time,” Trump said. He added that the Russian leader had offered to mediate in the Iran-Israel conflict, to which he responded: “No, you can help me with Russia.”
The US president has oscillated in his attitudes towards his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, culminating with an Oval Office bust-up with Zelenskyy in February after which Washington temporarily suspended its military and intelligence assistance to Kyiv.
By contrast, Trump initially appeared to be more understanding of Putin, whom he called several times and with whose negotiating team the US engaged in direct peace talks. But in recent weeks, Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the Russian president over his maximalist demands and refusal to agree to a ceasefire.
During the Nato summit discussions, Trump expressed frustration about the situation in Ukraine, which he said was “getting out of control”, according to two people in the room.
Zelenskyy described his meeting with Trump as “long and substantive” — their second face-to-face meeting since February. They discussed “all the truly important issues”, the Ukrainian leader said, including “how to protect our people” and “how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace”.
Trump disputed that they had discussed a ceasefire but still described the nearly hour-long meeting as “very nice” and focused on Ukraine’s overall situation.
“No, no, I wanted to know how he’s doing. He was very nice, actually,” Trump said. “He’s fighting a tough battle. It’s a tough battle.”
Trump said he and Zelenskyy had “had rough times” in the past, an apparent reference to the White House row.
“What I took from the meeting — couldn’t have been nicer actually — but I took from the meeting that he’d like to see it end,” Trump said of Zelenskyy. “I think it’s a great time to end it. I’m going to speak to Vladimir Putin and see if we can end it,” he added.
Trump said that “the Ukraine crisis has also highlighted the urgency of rebuilding our defence industrial base” and that neither the US nor its allies could “afford to be dependent on foreign adversaries for critical minerals”.
Kyiv and Washington signed a minerals deal last month, after an initial agreement that Zelenskyy was supposed to have signed in Washington was abandoned due to the Oval Office row.
Trump and Zelenskyy met again in April, when they spoke one-on-one at St Peter’s Basilica during Pope Francis’ funeral. They were expected to have a meeting at the G7 summit last week but the US president left early.
Their meeting on Wednesday came as Russia accelerates its summer offensive and production of missiles and drones.
Konrad Muzyka, director of Rochan Consulting, a Poland-based group that tracks the war, said Russia had launched more Shahed drones this spring than at any time during the war. “In June, they have already launched 4,342, and if the current tempo is maintained, the total may exceed 5,000 by the end of the month,” he said.
Russia’s air campaign has accompanied a brutal new ground offensive that has seen its troops advance at their fastest pace since November. Several key cities in eastern Ukraine are now in their crosshairs, including the logistical hubs of Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka, which have all but become ghost towns due to relentless Russian bombing.
Trump claimed that the Ukrainian and Russian armies had suffered a combined 7,000 casualties on the battlefield last week.
That figure could not be independently verified.
With his military on the back foot and facing a shortage of American-supplied arms and ammunition — US funding for military aid that was approved under former president Joe Biden will probably run out this summer — Zelenskyy has pleaded with Trump to sell Ukraine more weapons.
Atop his wish list are more US-made Patriot air defence systems and interceptor missiles to protect the skies over his war-torn nation.
Trump said Washington was looking into making more Patriot missiles available to Ukraine, though the US and Israel needed them as well.
Additional reporting by Anne-Sylvaine Chassany and Henry Foy in The Hague
