Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky with Donald Trump in the White House, October 17, 2025

EA on France 24: Ukraine — “Putin Is Not Interested In Negotiations”

Friday’s Coverage: Zelensky’s Meetings in Washington

Meeting Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House, Donald Trump has hedged on the supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv.

Ukraine and European officials have been negotiating with American counterparts for the provision of the missiles, with a range of from 1,600 to 2,500 km (994 to 1553 miles). Shifting his rhetoric to a belief that Ukraine “losing” to “winning” against the Russian invasion, Trump had indicated that he was open to the delivery.

However, on Thursday he took a phone call from Vladimir Putin, who said the supply of Kyiv with Tomahawks “won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but would cause substantial damage to the relationship between our countries”.

Putin offered Trump another face-to-face meeting, after their troubled encounter in Alaska on August 15, in Hungary’s capital Budapest.

So when a Ukrainian journalist asked about the Tomahawks, Trump jabbed, “Fair question — exactly as [Zelensky] told you to say it. We’re going to be talking about it.”

Later in the press appearance, Trump indicated that he would block the delivery:

One of the reasons we want to get this war over is…that it’s not easy for us to give you…massive numbers of very powerful weapons….Hopefully they won’t need it. Hopefully we’ll be able to get the war over with without thinking about Tomahawks.”

He added, “We want Tomahawks also. We don’t want to be giving away things that we need to protect our country.”

After a two-hour meeting with Zelensky, Trump avoided any commitment. He told reporters as he left Washington for Florida:

You stop at the battle line, and both sides should go home, go to their families. Stop the killing. And that should be it. Stop right now at the battle line. I told that to President Zelensky. I told it to President Putin.

Zelensky “Realistic” About Tomahawks

Zelensky tipped off his disappointment when he told reporters that he did not want to talk about long-range missiles. He said the Trump Administration did not want escalation, and he was “realistic” about his chance of getting the Tomahawks.

“It’s good that President Trump didn’t say ‘no,’ but for today, didn’t say ‘yes’,” he said.

Speaking by phone with European leaders after the meeting, he focused on getting Trump to pressure Putin “to stop this war”.

The President posted on social media:

Trump even mocked the issue of the Tomahawks and Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion, telling journalists about his conversation with Putin:

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. You have to be a little bit lighthearted sometimes.