President Volodymyr Zelensky appears to have come away empty-handed from a White House meeting after US President Donald Trump indicated he was not ready to supply sought-after Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Zelensky said after the cordial bilateral talks that he and Trump had talked about long-range missiles, but decided not to make statements on the issue because the United States does not want an escalation.
Following the meeting, Trump took to social media to call for Kyiv and Moscow to stop where they are and end the war.
The Trump-Zelensky meeting came a day after Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and agreed to meet him in Hungary soon.
Zelensky believes using Tomahawks to strike at Russian oil and energy facilities would severely weaken Putin's war economy. While Trump did not rule it out, his tone at the White House on Friday was non-committal.
Hopefully they won't need it, hopefully we'll be able to get the war over without thinking about Tomahawks, the US president said, adding: I think we're fairly close to that.
He described the weapons as a big deal and said that the US needed them for its own defence. He also noted that supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine could mean a further escalation in the conflict, but that discussions about sending them would continue.
The Ukrainian leader suggested his country could offer drones in exchange for the Tomahawks, prompting smiles and nodding from Trump.
Zelensky also complimented Trump on his role in securing the first phase of a peace deal in the Middle East, suggesting the US leader could build on that momentum to help end Russia's war in Ukraine.
After the meeting, Zelensky was asked by a reporter outside the White House if he thought Putin wanted a deal or was just buying time with the planned meeting with Trump in Budapest. I don't know, he said, adding that the prospect of Ukraine having Tomahawks had caused Russia to be afraid because it is a strong weapon.
Zelensky later posted on X, saying that he had called European leaders to share details of the meeting with Trump, adding that the main priority now is to protect as many lives as possible, guarantee security for Ukraine, and strengthen all of us in Europe.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the call with European leaders was productive and promised that the UK will continue to send humanitarian aid and military support.
While Trump had shown an openness to the idea of selling the Tomahawks in recent days, Putin warned that such a move would further strain the US-Russian relationship.
On Thursday, Trump said great progress was made during a phone call with Putin, with the pair agreeing to face-to-face talks soon in Hungary - although no date has been set.
Back in Ukraine, the BBC spoke on Friday to a couple repairing their store in a suburb of Kyiv, after it was obliterated by Russian missiles. When the store-owner, Volodymyr, was asked about Trump's forthcoming summit meeting with Putin, he began to say: We appreciate all support but he stepped away as tears welled up in his eyes. After a long pause, he composed himself and started again.
Truth and democracy will win, and all the terrorism and evil will disappear, he said. We just want to live, we don't want to give up, we just want them to leave us alone.
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