U.S. President Donald Trump signaled to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday that he’s leaning against selling long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv, while offering optimism that the war is moving toward an end that may mitigate a necessity for the powerful weapon.
Zelenskyy at first of the White House talks said he had a “proposition” by which Ukraine could provide the US with its advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that Ukrainian officials say they desperately have to motivate Russian President Vladmir Putin to get serious about peace talks.
But Trump said he was hesitant to tap into the U.S. Tomahawk supply, a turnabout after days of suggesting he was seriously weighing sending the missiles to assist Ukraine beat back Russia’s invasion.
“I even have an obligation also to make certain that we’re completely stocked up as a rustic, since you never know what’s going to occur in war and peace,” Trump said. He added, “We’d much quite have them not need Tomahawks. We’d much quite have the war be over to be honest.”
Zelenskyy and his top aides huddled with Trump and his team over lunch, a day after the U.S. president and Putin held a lengthy phone call to debate the conflict.
Zelenskyy congratulated Trump over landing last week’s ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza and said Trump now has “momentum” to stop the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“President Trump now has an enormous probability to complete this war,” Zelenskyy added.
Trump’s shifting rhetoric on Tomahawks is definitely disappointing to the Ukrainians. In recent days, Trump had shown an openness to selling Ukraine the Tomahawks, at the same time as Putin warned that such a move would further strain the U.S.-Russian relationship.
Get each day National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
But following Thursday’s call with Putin, Trump began downplaying the prospects of Ukraine getting the missiles, which have a variety of about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers.)
Zelenskyy had been in search of the Tomahawks, which might allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and goal key military sites, energy facilities and significant infrastructure. Zelenskyy has argued that the potential for such strikes would help compel Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations to finish the war more seriously.
Putin warned Trump in the course of the call that supplying Kyiv with the Tomahawks “won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but would cause substantial damage to the connection between our countries,” in response to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that talk of providing Tomahawks had already served a purpose by pushing Putin into talks. “The conclusion is that we’d like to proceed with strong steps. Strength can truly create momentum for peace,” Sybiha said on the social platform X late Thursday.
Zelenskyy also was using Friday’s meeting to debate the potential of energy deals with the U.S.
He was expected to supply to store American liquefied natural gas in Ukraine’s gas storage facilities, which might allow for an American presence within the European energy market.
Zelenskyy previewed the strategy on Thursday in meetings with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and the heads of American energy firms, leading him to post on X that it is vital to revive Ukraine’s energy infrastructure after Russian attacks and expand “the presence of American businesses in Ukraine.”
It’s the fourth face-to-face meeting for Trump and Zelenskyy because the Republican returned to office in January, and their second in lower than a month.
Trump announced on Thursday following his call with Putin that he would soon meet with him in Budapest, Hungary, to debate ways to finish the war. The 2 also agreed that their senior aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would meet next week at an unspecified location.
The president said Friday it was “to be determined” if Zelenskyy could be involved within the talks in Hungary — suggesting a “double meeting” with the warring countries’ leaders was likely probably the most workable option for productive negotiations.
“These two leaders don’t like one another, and we need to make it comfortable for everyone,” Trump added.
Before his call with Putin, Trump had shown signs of increased frustration with the Russian leader.
Last month, Trump announced that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from his repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to finish the war.
Trump, going back to his 2024 campaign, insisted he would quickly end the war, but his peace efforts appeared to stall following a diplomatic blitz in August, when he held a summit with Putin in Alaska and a White House meeting with Zelenskyy and European allies.
Trump emerged from those meetings certain he was on course to arranging direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin. However the Russian leader hasn’t shown any interest in meeting with Zelenskyy and Moscow has only intensified its bombardment of Ukraine.
Asked Friday if he was concerned that Putin was stringing him along, Trump acknowledged it was a possibility but said he was confident he could handle the Russian leader.
“I’ve been played all my life by the very best of them, and I got here out pretty much,” Trump said. He added, “I believe I’m pretty good at these things.”
AP author Michelle L. Price contributed reporting.
© 2025 The Canadian Press