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

EA with TVP World: What Next After Zelensky-Trump Meeting?

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Why Trump Wobbled on Tomahawks for Ukraine

EA on France 24 and Ukraine’s War and Politics 24: “Putin Is Not Interested In Negotiations”

Friday’s Coverage: Zelensky’s Meetings in Washington

UPDATE 1300 GMT:

“Two sources briefed on the meeting” have given details on the White House encounter between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump on Friday.

The sources said Trump firmly rejected sending Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine for now. One said the meeting “was not easy”: “Nobody shouted, but Trump was tough.” The other said, “It was bad. Trump gave several strong statements during the meeting and at some points it got a bit emotional.”

After 2 1/2 hours, Trump said, “I think we’re done. Let’s see what happens next week,” in his planned meeting with Vladimir Putin in Budapest.

A source said several European leaders, briefed by Zelensky immediately after the meeting, were puzzled by Trump’s apparent change of heart.

UPDATE 1248 GMT:

Ukrainian officials say recent drone strikes have destroyed 11 fuel tanks at the Feodosia oil depot, the largest in Russian-occupied Crimea.

An assault on Monday set a fire which burned for more than 48 hours. It followed damage to 14 tanks in a strike on October 6.

Ukraine’s escalating attacks have led to gasoline shortages across Russia and Russia-occupied territory, with rationing in Crimea and parts of the Russian Far East.

UPDATE 1237 GMT:

Ukraine has condemned Russia for the “shameful” imprisonment of an engineer at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Regional Court condemned Ruslan Lavryk to 16 years in a strict regime colony for donating money to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and allegedly providing details on the location of Russian military personnel.

Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov said Lavryk has heart problems and needs hospitalization after prolonged captivity and torture.

UPDATE 1158 GMT:

One civilian was murdered and at least 11 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 136 of 164 drones and intercepted three S-300 guided missiles. Twenty-seven UAVs struck 12 locations.

In the Kharkiv region in the northeast, a 58-year-old man was killed and an 83-year-old woman was injured amid strikes on 12 settlements with 23 drones.

In the Kherson region in the south, a 20-year-old woman is in serious condition after her car was attacked with an explosive device dropped from a drone. Three other people were wounded. Six apartment buildings, 11 houses, an administrative building, an educational institution, a bus, and vehicles were damaged.

Casualties were also reported in the Zaporizhzhia and Sumy regions.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: 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.