US President Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tense meeting on Friday that he doesn’t intend to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles, at least for now, two sources briefed on the meeting tell Axios.
Zelensky hoped to leave Washington with commitments around new weapons for Ukraine, but found Trump in a totally different state of mind a day after he held a lengthy call with Russian president Vlaidmir Putin.
Trump made clear his priority now is diplomacy, and he thinks providing Tomahawks could undermine it, the sources say.
One of the sources said the meeting “was not easy,” while the other simply said “it was bad.”
“Nobody shouted, but Trump was tough,” according to the first source.
“Trump gave several strong statements during the meeting and at some points it got a bit emotional,” the second source said.
The meeting ended abruptly after 2.5 hours.
“I think we’re done. Let’s see what happens next week,” Trump said, referring to planned talks between the U.S. and Russia.
Trump intends to meet Putin in Budapest some time in the next two weeks.
Zelensky, meanwhile, held a conference call with European leaders immediately after the Trump meeting.
In a briefing with reporters, Zelensky confirmed they had discussed Tomahawks but said he and Trump had decided not to discuss the matter publicly because the U.S. wants to avoid escalation.
When asked if he’s optimistic about the Tomahawks, Zelensky said: “I’m realistic.”
In reality, the sources said, Zelensky pushed hard on Tomahawks but Trump pushed back and showed no flexibility.
During Zelensky’s call with the European leaders, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer proposed working with the U.S. to draft peace for Ukraine along the lines of Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, the source on the call said.
