Former President Donald Trump on Friday touted his relationship with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and reiterated his pledge to “settle” the war between the two countries if he is elected in November before he officially takes office.
Trump’s remarks came ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Friday.
“I think long before Jan. 20, before I would take the presidency -- it's Jan. 20, but long before that -- I think that we can work out something that’s good for both sides,” Trump said during brief remarks to the press.
With Zelenskyy standing by his side during the remarks, Trump spoke highly of the Ukrainian leader, calling him a “piece of steel” and noting that he has “been through a lot.” The former president also went on to assert that he has a “very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His relationship with both, Trump said, would allow him to nail down a deal to end the more than 2½-year-old war.
“I think if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly,” Trump said. “But, you know, it takes two to tango, and we’re going to have a good meeting today, and I think the fact that we’re even together today is a very good sign.”
Trump also asserted that Zelenskyy stood up for him by saying the former president “did nothing wrong” on a 2019 phone call between the two that was at the center of Trump's first impeachment.
For his part, Zelenskyy on Friday told reporters he believes he and Trump share a “common view” that Putin cannot prevail in Ukraine. He noted the two had not met in person in five years and acknowledged the uncertainty around the election.
“That’s why I decided to meet with both candidates,” Zelenskyy added.
The 2024 election cast a shadow over Friday’s meeting and Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. this week, where he attended the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly and huddled with lawmakers, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, in Washington.
The result on Nov. 5, both in the presidential race as well as contests that will decide which party controls the House and Senate, could have significant implications for the future of U.S. support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia.
Harris has pledged to stand with Ukraine and warned against isolationism in an implicit criticism of her Republican rival, Trump, and some in the GOP who have followed his lead in their views of America’s place on the world stage.
“So then, the United States supports Ukraine, not out of charity but because it is in our own strategic interest,” Harris said Thursday. “We will continue to provide the security assistance Ukraine needs to succeed on the battlefield.”
Trump has lobbed criticisms at Ukraine and Zelenskyy on the campaign trail this week, describing the country as “demolished” and “in rubble” with its people “dead” and questioning the amount of aid the U.S. is providing to its war effort.
“We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelenskyy,” Trump said at a campaign event this week.
In an interview with The New Yorker this week, Zelenskyy pushed back on the former president’s assertions that he could settle the war in Ukraine and criticized Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance as “too radical.”