Zelenskyy says Ukrainian territory would be part of any talks with Russia

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expected to continue discussions with Donald Trump about supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, though no agreement on the long-range weapons was reached on Friday.

“Nobody cancelled this dialogue, this topic. So we have to work on it more,” the Ukrainian president said following the conclusion of his meeting with his US counterpart.

“Russia is afraid about Tomahawks because it’s a strong weapon,” Zelenskyy told a press conference outside the White House on Friday afternoon.

Zelenskyy also said it was inevitable that Ukrainian territory would be part of any future negotiations with Russia, describing the topic as a “very sensitive and difficult question”,

As Trump departed Washington for his Mar-a-Lago resort, the US president said in a social media post that his meeting with Zelenskyy was “interesting and cordial” but urged Ukraine and Russia to “stop where they are” and “make a DEAL!” to end the war.

Kyiv had been hopeful that Friday’s meeting would yield positive results as Trump signalled deeper support for its effort to end Russia’s full-scale invasion. But the US president’s call with Putin on Thursday damped the mood in Zelenskyy’s delegation ahead of today’s meeting.

In the hours leading up to Friday’s meeting, a senior official told the Financial Times that Kyiv was now “very nervous” about the latest discussions and uncertain of what clear victories they might extract.

Earlier in the afternoon as Trump and Zelenskyy answered media questions, Trump characterised Tomahawk missiles as “dangerous” and said their usage “could mean escalation” in a conflict.

“Hopefully, we will be able to end the war without thinking about Tomahawks,” Trump said. “We are fairly close to that.”

Friday’s meeting is Zelenskyy’s third in the White House this year. His first, in February, broke down into an ugly argument in front of the cameras in the Oval Office, as US vice-president JD Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of being ungrateful for Washington’s support.