One day after warmly welcoming Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump has ruled out supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles and instead called on Kyiv to “make a deal” with Moscow.
The shift came as Trump, fresh from agreeing to a new summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said both sides should “stop where they are” and “let history decide.” Posting on social media after his meeting with Zelensky, he wrote: “It is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL!”
Zelensky, who had urged the U.S. to send Tomahawks to “push Putin to the negotiation table,” told NBC that Trump “didn’t say yes, but didn’t say no,” and acknowledged Washington’s reluctance to escalate the conflict. “The United States doesn’t want escalation,” he said, adding that Russia “is afraid” of the long-range weapons.
Speaking to reporters later, Trump said he hoped to “get the war over with, without thinking about Tomahawks,” and insisted that Putin “wants to end the war.” The remarks followed a lengthy call between the two leaders on Thursday, in which they agreed to meet soon in Budapest.
The Kremlin confirmed preparations for the summit but noted that “many questions” remain, including the composition of each negotiating team. Hungary has offered to facilitate the meeting, promising that Putin would be able to “hold successful talks” despite the International Criminal Court warrant against him.
Zelensky, meanwhile, said he remained “realistic” about U.S. aid and expressed hope that Trump’s momentum from brokering a Gaza ceasefire could help bring peace to Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry on Friday claimed new territorial gains, saying its forces had captured three villages in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions.
