President Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Friday for a highly anticipated meeting amid Trump’s push to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump shook hands with the Ukrainian president outside the West Wing, quipping that Zelensky was “all dressed up.” Zelensky wore a black long-sleeve shirt. The two were set to hold a bilateral meeting and a joint press conference.
At the top of the agenda is an agreement that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals supply. Trump said Thursday that the deal would allow the U.S. to recoup some of the money it provided to Ukraine for its defensive war against Russia, while providing an economic boost to Kyiv as it looks to rebuild from the war.
Prior to visiting the White House, Zelensky met in Washington with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss continued U.S. assistance for Ukraine.
Trump last week raised eyebrows when he called Zelensky a “dictator without elections,” claimed he was doing a “terrible job” and suggested he was responsible for the start of the war. At one point, Trump said he did not think it was important for Zelensky to be part of meetings on peace negotiations because the Ukrainian leader “has no cards.”
The president seemed to soften his tone ahead of Zelenksy’s visit, however.
“We want to work with him, President Zelensky … and we will work with him,” Trump said Thursday. “I think the president and I actually have had a very good relationship. It maybe got a little bit testy because we wanted to have a little bit of what the European nations had.”
Monday marked three years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February after amassing troops on the border and demanding a ban on Ukraine ever joining NATO. The invasion took place nearly a decade after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Trump campaigned on ending the war in Ukraine, and he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month in an effort to kickstart ceasefire talks.
