Trump meets Zelensky, urges to stop Russia-Ukraine war

Washington, October 18 (IANS). US President Donald Trump met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, a day after speaking on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin for two and a half hours. After the meeting with the Ukrainian president, the US president posted on his social media platform Truth Social that his meeting with Zelensky was “very interesting and cordial”. “The meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was very interesting and cordial, but I told him, as I suggested to President Putin, that now is the time to stop the killings and reach a compromise,” he wrote. President Trump also said that they should stay where they are. Let both claim victory, let history decide! No more shootings, no more deaths, no more wasted money. This is a war that would never have started if I were president. Thousands of people are being killed every week, no more, go home to your families in peace!” Speaking to the media ahead of the bilateral meeting, the US president appeared to deviate from his previous stance on giving Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, saying: “He would rather they didn’t need Tomahawk.” He added: “We’re going over like a missile Tomahawk speaks, and we may have no need. Tomahawk missiles. To be honest, we would like to end the war. We are involved in this only to end the war.” Trump said that America needs these missiles for its own security. In fact, the war that has been going on for two years between Hamas and Israel has reached a point. In such a situation, the Ukrainian president hopes that the war between Russia and Ukraine can also be stopped. He said: “We need Tomahawk missiles, and we also need many other missiles for the past four years. Send to Ukraine.” –IANS KK/DSC