Insiders report

Zelensky’s meeting with Trump was “pretty bad”

Ukrainian President Zelenskyi apparently did not get through to Trump with his requests.(Bild: AP/Alex Brandon)

Insiders report that Donald Trump's meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyi was a clear disappointment for the Ukrainian delegation. The US President is said to have urged his counterpart to cede parts of the country's territory to Russia. He is also said to have refused to deliver Tomahawks to Ukraine.

Instead, Trump talked about giving security guarantees to both Kiev and Moscow, which the Ukrainian delegation found confusing. Two people familiar with the talks told the Reuters news agency on Sunday.

Agreement on ceasefire
After the meeting, Trump called for a ceasefire on the current front lines. Selenskyj echoed this position in statements to reporters. A third insider said that Trump had made this suggestion during the meeting after Selensky had declared that he would not voluntarily cede any territory to Russia.

Trump (left) and Selenskyj in the White House(Bild: AFP/HANDOUT)

Ukrainian President Zelensky apparently did not get through to Trump with his concerns.(Bild: AP/Alex Brandon)

"Your country will freeze to death"
"It was pretty bad", said one of the insiders. Trump's message to Zelensky was: "Your country will freeze to death and your country will be destroyed if Ukraine does not conclude an agreement with Russia." Trump also used vulgar language several times during the meeting.

According to two insiders, there was the impression that Trump had been influenced by a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. According to the Washington Post, Putin proposed a territorial swap during this conversation. According to the report, Ukraine would cede the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and receive small parts of Zaporizhia and Kherson in return. One of the insiders said that this is exactly what US representatives proposed to Zelenskyi on Friday. However, the Ukrainians see great strategic value in the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk that they still hold. In their view, ceding them would make the rest of Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian offensives.

Trump denies this
On Sunday, however, Trump denied to journalists on board Air Force One that he had proposed this territorial swap. When asked whether he had told Zelenskyi that Ukraine would have to cede the entire Donbas to Russia, Trump replied: "No." He added: "I think Russia has already taken 78 percent of the country."

The Financial Times first reported on parts of the talks on Sunday. In his evening video address on Sunday evening, Zelensky said that Ukraine would not give anything to the aggressor and would not forget anything. "We see clearly that this Russia is a long-term threat."

Frosty atmosphere in the White House(Bild: AFP/TOM BRENNER)

"Putin cannot be stopped with talks"
He accused the war opponent of delaying tactics in efforts to end the fighting. "The war is only continuing because Moscow does not want to end it," said the head of state. He repeated that Kiev had already agreed to an "unconditional ceasefire". It is Moscow that continues to carry out airstrikes and intensify attacks on the front line. "Putin cannot be stopped with talks", Selensky was convinced: "Pressure is needed."

However, the US President continues to rely on talks. On Thursday, he announced that he would meet with Putin in Budapest "very soon". An advisor to the Kremlin explained shortly afterwards that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would speak in the coming days to prepare for the summit.