On September 25, 2019, US President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Trump Tower in New York on Friday morning.
Trump has previously not expected Meet with Ukraine’s president, who already met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday. Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, been criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine.
“What happened in Ukraine was regrettable: so many lives lost, so much destruction. It’s a terrible thing,” Trump said Thursday. “One of the things that really bothers me is that Europe only pays a fraction of what the United States pays, and we have an ocean between us and Russia. But they don’t.”
Zelensky traveled to the White House on Thursday to meet with Biden in what could be his last trip on U.S. soil with the Biden administration, just weeks before his successor is set to be determined in November’s presidential election .
Biden announced a new support package of nearly $8 billion for Ukraine, which Zelensky called a “huge help.”
The visit underscores Democratic leaders’ staunch support for Ukraine’s war with Russia, but foreshadows the relationship that could change if Trump wins the election.
During the September presidential debate, Trump was asked twice whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war. Both times he dodged the question, avoiding saying he wanted U.S. allies to win. instead, he said“I want the war to stop.”
Zelensky and Harris have met seven times, the two leaders said today, and the Democratic nominee echoed Biden’s unwavering support for the troubled country.
“We share a common vision of what needs to be done,” Zelensky said before meeting with the vice president.
“There are people in our country who will force Ukraine to give up most of its sovereign territory, who will demand that Ukraine accept neutrality and demand that Ukraine abandon its security relationships with other countries,” Harris said before meeting with other countries, Zelensky appeared to be referring to. It’s Trump. “These proposals are identical to Putin’s proposals, and let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace. Rather, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.”
