Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck a hopeful tone while on a trip to the U.S. on Friday, even though he had not sealed an agreement with President Donald Trump on the delivery of long-range Tomahawk missiles — weapons that could be a game-changer in the war against Russia.
“It’s good that President Trump didn’t say ‘no,’ but for today, didn’t say ‘yes,’” Zelenskyy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in an exclusive interview, which will air on Sunday.
Zelenskyy’s appeal for Tomahawk missile comes as Russia has been hammering Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with drones and missiles in the past week, leading to blackouts across the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently warned that supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would be a “qualitatively new stage of escalation.”
Zelenskyy told NBC News that a Ukrainian military equipped with Tomahawk missiles is a genuine concern for Putin.
“I think that Putin [is] afraid that United States will deliver us Tomahawks. And I think that he [is] really afraid that we will use” them, he said.
Still, returning to Ukraine without an agreement on Tomahawk missiles will likely spur Zelenskyy’s critics to ask why he came to the U.S. at all.
To some extent, Trump appeared to limit expectations about an agreement on Tomahawk missiles Friday when he met with Zelenskyy at the White House. Zelenskyy spoke to NBC News shortly after that visit.
Trump had a phone call with with Putin on Thursday, and he said on Truth Social that he will meet with the Russian president in Budapest, Hungary, for a second round of in-person talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump said his call with Putin was “very productive” and that he believed “great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation.”
At their last meeting, which took place in Alaska in August, Trump gave Putin a grand welcome with a red carpet, a jet flyover and a ride in the armored presidential limo known as “The Beast,” raising hopes that the conflict may finally be coming to an end.
But Trump was not able to pressure Putin into accepting a ceasefire or a one-on-one meeting with Zelenskyy.
The animosity between the two presidents is a major obstacle, Trump said at a press gathering with Zelenskyy on Friday.
“They have tremendous bad blood. It’s, it’s really is what is holding up, I think, a settlement,” he said, adding, “I think we’re going to get it done, and we have to make it long-lasting.”
Trump’s recent success in securing a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas along with a hostage-for-prisoner exchange between the two parties appears to have also made the president optimistic about the chances of resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“The war in the Middle East was far more complicated. We got that one done, and I think we have a good chance. I think President Zelenskyy wants it done, and I think President Putin wants it done,” he said at a Friday press gathering.
