By AAMER MADHANI and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signaled to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday that he’s leaning against selling long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv, while offering optimism that the war is moving toward an end that would mitigate a need for the powerful weapon.
Zelenskyy at the start of the White House talks said he had a “proposition” in which Ukraine could provide the United States with its advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that Ukrainian officials say they desperately need to motivate Russian President Vladmir Putin to get serious about peace talks.
But Trump said he was hesitant to tap into the U.S. Tomahawk supply, a turnabout after days of suggesting he was seriously weighing sending the missiles to help Ukraine beat back 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 said. He added, “We’d much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We’d much rather have the war be over to be honest.”
Zelenskyy and his top aides huddled with Trump and his team over lunch, a day after the U.S. president and Putin held a lengthy phone call to discuss the conflict.
Zelenskyy congratulated Trump over landing last week’s ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza and said Trump now has “momentum” to stop the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“President Trump now has a big chance to finish this war,” Zelenskyy added.
Trump’s shifting rhetoric on Tomahawks is certainly disappointing to the Ukrainians. In recent days, Trump had shown an openness to selling Ukraine the Tomahawks, even as Putin warned that such a move would further strain the U.S.-Russian relationship.
But following Thursday’s call with Putin, Trump began downplaying the prospects of Ukraine getting the missiles, which have a range of about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers.)
Zelenskyy had been seeking the Tomahawks, which would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and target key military sites, energy facilities and critical infrastructure. Zelenskyy has argued that the potential for such strikes would help compel Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations to end the war more seriously.
Putin warned Trump during the call 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,” according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that talk of providing Tomahawks had already served a purpose by pushing Putin into talks. “The conclusion is that we need to continue with strong steps. Strength can truly create momentum for peace,” Sybiha said on the social platform X late Thursday.
Zelenskyy also was using Friday’s meeting to discuss the possibility of energy deals with the U.S.
He was expected to offer to store American liquefied natural gas in Ukraine’s gas storage facilities, which would allow for an American presence in the European energy market.
Zelenskyy previewed the strategy on Thursday in meetings with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and the heads of American energy companies, leading him to post on X that it is important to restore Ukraine’s energy infrastructure after Russian attacks and expand “the presence of American businesses in Ukraine.”
It is the fourth face-to-face meeting for Trump and Zelenskyy since the Republican returned to office in January, and their second in less than a month.
Trump announced on Thursday following his call with Putin that he would soon meet with him in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss ways to end the war. The two also agreed that their senior aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would meet next week at an unspecified location.
The president said Friday it was “to be determined” if Zelenskyy would be involved in the talks in Hungary — suggesting a “double meeting” with the warring countries’ leaders was likely the most workable option for productive negotiations.
“These two leaders do not like each other, and we want to make it comfortable for everybody,” Trump added.
Before his call with Putin, Trump had shown signs of increased frustration with the Russian leader.
Last month, Trump announced that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from his repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war.
Trump, going back to his 2024 campaign, insisted he would quickly end the war, but his peace efforts appeared to stall following a diplomatic blitz in August, when he held a summit with Putin in Alaska and a White House meeting with Zelenskyy and European allies.
Trump emerged from those meetings certain he was on track to arranging direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin. But the Russian leader hasn’t shown any interest in meeting with Zelenskyy and Moscow has only intensified its bombardment of Ukraine.
Asked Friday if he was concerned that Putin was stringing him along, Trump acknowledged it was a possibility but said he was confident he could handle the Russian leader.
“I’ve been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out pretty well,” Trump said. He added, “I think I’m pretty good at this stuff.”
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AP writer Michelle L. Price contributed reporting.