US President, Donald Trump has met with Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy was their first face-to-face session since April when they met at St. Peter’s Basilica during Pope Francis’ funeral.
Speaking at a press conference shortly after meeting Zelenskyy, Trump suggested that increased spending by the trans-Atlantic alliance could help prevent future Russian aggression against its neighbors.
NATO members agreed to raise their spending targets by 2035 to 5% of gross domestic product annually on core defense requirements as well as defense-and security-related spending. That target had been 2% of GDP.
“Europe stepping up to take more responsibility for security will help prevent future disasters like the horrible situation with Russia and Ukraine and hopefully we’re going to get that solved.”
Donald Trump
Trump also said that it was possible that Russian President, Vladimir Putin had territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine and that he planned to speak to his Russian counterpart “very soon.”
Trump reiterated his belief that Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine that began with Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.
“He’d like to get out of this thing. It’s a mess for him. He called the other day, and he said, ‘Can I help you with Iran?’ I said, ‘No, you can help me with Russia.’”
Donald Trump
Trump left open the possibility of sending Kyiv more U.S.-made Patriot air defense missile systems.
He acknowledged that sending more Patriots would help the Ukrainian cause.
“They do want to have the antimissile missiles, OK, as they call them, the Patriots and we’re going to see if we can make some available. We need them, too.
“We’re supplying them to Israel, and, they’re very effective, 100% effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing.”
Donald Trump
Over the course of the war, the US has routinely pressed for allies to provide air defense systems to Ukraine.
However, many are reluctant to give up the high-tech systems, particularly countries in Eastern Europe that also feel threatened by Russia.
The conflict with Russia has laid waste to Ukrainian towns and killed thousands of civilians. Just last week, Russia launched one of the biggest drone attacks of the war.
During Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House, the Republican pledged a quick end to the war.
He claimed that the war would not have happened had he won reelection in 2020.
Since taking office in January, he has struggled to find a resolution to the conflict and has shown frustration with both Putin and Zelenskyy.
Substantive Talks
In a social media post, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Hague talks were substantive and he thanked Trump for the US assistance.
“We covered all the truly important issues. I thank Mr. President, I thank the United States.
“We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people. We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy disclosed that he and Trump discussed the purchase of American air defense systems to “shield our cities, our people, churches, and infrastructure.”
“Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers. Europe can help. We also discussed the potential for co-production of drones. We can strengthen each other.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukrainian and Russian delegations held peace talks in Ankara earlier this year which ended with little progress.
READ ALSO: Chamber of Mines, GRA Strengthen Partnership for Fiscal Compliance
