Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a significant visit to the White House, seeking support from President Trump in providing Ukraine with long-range weapons. This move could mark a considerable shift in the ongoing conflict with Russia.

The two leaders appeared together, offering polite smiles as they faced a barrage of questions from the press. Reporters were eager to know if Trump and Zelensky were open to negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin and questioned whether any discussions with Russia would be conducted in good faith. There was also curiosity about the potential provision of Tomahawk missiles. However, neither leader responded to these inquiries.

During a bilateral lunch, both presidents expressed a willingness to collaborate. President Trump remarked on the situation, stating, “We had a significant call yesterday with President Putin and President Zelensky of Ukraine. Ukraine has faced a lot, and we have stood by them. It’s been a prolonged period, but we are making notable progress.”

During the bi-lateral lunch, both leaders started off by signaling cooperation with each other.  

‘We had a big call yesterday with President Putin and Zelensky of Ukraine, who has endured a lot. We have endured it with him. It has been a long time and we are making great progress,’ Trump started the speech. 

‘I think things are coming along very well. It started with Alaska … this was long ago into the biden administration and we inherited this and want to see if we can end this. So many people have died in this war.’

Zelensky start off his part of the speech contraulating his succss in the Middle East and saying tht the momentum fir peace in europe is strong,

‘I am confident with your help that we can stop this war. We see that they do not have success on the battlefield, they are weaker now.’

But the high-stakes meeting comes just one day after Trump agreed to a second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin – expected to take place in Hungary – with the White House playing up Putin’s flattery. 

‘President Putin congratulated President Trump for solving the conflict in Israel and Gaza and bringing peace back to the Middle East,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday. 

Trump said that after the call, he was more convinced that Putin was ready to make peace. 

‘It just seems to me that, you know, it’s how I feel,’ the president explained. ‘That’s all I’ve done in my whole life, I’ve made deals, I know about deals, I do it well.’

‘I don’t think any president has ever ended a war, frankly,’ Trump also offered. 

In a post on X Thursday night, Zelensky made clear he was dubious that Putin was truly ready to come to the negotiating table. 

‘Nothing has changed for Russia- it is still terrorizing life in Ukraine,’ Zelensky said. 

President Donald Trump (left) greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) outside the West Wing in August – the second meeting the president had with Zelensky of his second term 

President Donald Trump (right) appeared to have grown frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin (left), especially after their Alaska summit didn’t produce a Ukraine peace deal, but on Thursday Trump said the Alaska summit ‘set a stage’

‘Russia will be forced to stop the war once it is no longer able to continue it,’ the Ukrainian leader continued. ‘And Russia’s true readiness for peace lies not in words – Putin has never been short of those – but in actually ceasing the strikes and killings, and that’s precisely where he has a problem.’

Trump has been in contact with Putin throughout his second term – and met him face-to-face in August in Alaska – but the Russian leader hasn’t slowed down his assault on Ukrainian territory. 

The president said he still viewed the Alaska meeting positively, though the US walked away with no concrete peace deal and Putin was able to herald the visit as his return to the world stage, after being turned into a pariah since the February 2022 invasion.

‘Well, I think Alaska actually set a stage and that wasn’t very long ago, but it set a stage,’ Trump said Thursday. 

Prior to this week’s call with Putin, Trump appeared to have grown frustrated with the Russian leader, often lamenting that he thought the Ukraine war would be the easiest to end – thanks to his good relationship with Putin – and instead it’s been the hardest.

Trump also credited first lady Melania Trump with opening his eyes to Russia’s consistent bombing and killing of civilians in the aftermath of friendly phone calls with Putin.

Zelensky is expected to ask Trump for long-range Tomahawk missiles for Kyiv, capabilities that might make Russia more eager for peace. 

Washington has been hesitant to provide Ukraine with long–range missiles, such as Tomahawks, out of concern that such a step could escalate the war and deepen tensions between the United States and Russia. 

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and President Donald Trump (right) are photographed in the Oval Office in August 

Ukrainian soldiers ride in the back of a car covered with an anti–drone mesh at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region on September 19

A Ukrainian soldier stands among the rubble in the courtyard of destroyed residential buildings in the frontline town of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, on October 12

But Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Wednesday in Brussels that if Russia won’t budge from its objections and refuses to negotiate a peace deal, Washington ‘will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression.’

The president revealed that he had teased giving Zelensky the Tomahawks to Putin on their call Thursday. 

‘I did actually say, “Would you mind if I gave a couple of thousand tomahawks to your opposition?” I did say that to him. I said it just that way. He didn’t like the idea,’ Trump said. ‘You have to be a little lighthearted sometimes.’

Relations between Trump and Zelensky have warmed since their late February viral spat in the Oval Office in which the president told his Ukrainian counterpart: ‘You don’t have the cards.’

But it appeared Trump might wait for his second in-person meeting with Putin before green-lighting the Tomahawks, which he called ‘vicious,’ ‘offensive’ and ‘incredibly destructive.’ 

The president said his second Putin summit would be hosted by his political ally, Hungarian President Victor Orban, and would happen soon. 

Putin has yet to commit to sitting down with Zelensky face-to-face. 

‘I mean, we have a problem. They don’t get along too well, those two, and it’s sometimes tough to have meetings,’ Trump said. ‘So we may do something where we’re separate, but separate but equal,’ the president floated. 

‘This is a terrible relationship the two of them have,’ Trump said.