Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met at Trump Tower in New York City, the United States, on September 27, 2024.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky for the first time in five yearsformer President Donald Trump complained about his Impeachment 2019 And he said that if re-elected, he would work to end the war between Russia and Ukraine through an agreement “that benefits both sides”.
“We're going to work very closely with both sides to try to work this out and get it resolved,” Trump said, standing next to Zelensky and addressing a small group of reporters before a closed-door meeting. “It has to end. At some point It has to end. He's been through hell. His country has been through hell.”
Trump said the two leaders “have a very good relationship, and as you know, I have a very good relationship with (Russian) President Vladimir Putin.” Zelensky added that he hoped they would continue to have a good relationship. relationship.
“It takes two to tango, and we can,” Trump responded.
The former president went on a rant about his impeachment in 2019. In July of that year, he had a now-infamous phone call with Zelensky.
In a July phone call, Trump asked Zelensky whether there would be an investigation into President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Several officials, including the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, said Trump had suspended aid to Ukraine because of his request for the Ukrainian government to investigate the Bidens.
“This was a hoax, just a Democratic hoax, and we won,” Trump said of the impeachment effort, with Zelensky standing by his side on Friday. Trump has long denied wrongdoing and was acquitted in a Senate trial.
He claimed Zelensky said Trump had done nothing wrong during their phone call and said the Ukrainian president “said it loud and clear and the impeachment hoax went away.” He praised Zelensky as “like a piece of steel.”
Zelensky briefly said he believed he and Trump shared the view that Ukraine must defeat Russia and recognize the importance of the U.S. election. “We understand that after November … we expect the United States to be very powerful,” he said.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since Trump was impeached. They last met during Trump's presidency, during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019.
Trump and Zelensky last spoke by phone in July, when the Ukrainian leader congratulated the former president on winning the Republican presidential nomination and condemned an assassination attempt on Trump earlier that month.
Their meeting comes amid concerns about the future of Ukraine and its defense against Russian aggression and how the outcome of the U.S. election will greatly affect the fate of the war, as well as divisions in Congress over whether to continue aid to Ukraine.