Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday suggested that he wants to trade military drones made in his country in exchange for the US’s Tomahawk missiles. Zelenskyy made the proposal during his meeting with US President Donald Trump in the White House.
Ukraine is considered the world leader in military drones, a skill the country acquired during the war with Russia, which has been going on for more than three years now.
Zelenskyy said that while Ukraine has thousands of military drones, they don’t have the strong missiles that the US makes, and suggested both countries can work together for their military goals.
Trump says US is interested in Ukrainian drones
The Ukrainian President’s proposal was met with a positive response from Trump.
Trump, when asked if the U.S. was interested in such a deal, said, “We are.”
“We build our own drones, but we also buy drones from others, and they make a very good drone,” Trump said while acknowledging that drone warfare has “really come to the fore” over the last few years because of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump hesitant on selling Tomahawks to Ukraine
Zelenskyy’s proposal to trade military drones for Tomahawks seems to be aimed at winning over Trump, who had suggested on Thursday that he may not sell the long-range missile systems to Ukraine.
Trump, who recently said he was open to the idea of arming Ukraine with Tomahawks, changed his mind after this telephonic conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday.
After their phone call, Trump on Thursday said he will meet Putin in Budapest, Hungary.
On Friday, Trump suggested that the possibility of the US arming Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles might have led to Putin agreeing to meet him.
“I think he wants to make a deal. That’s all. I can’t tell you what’s bringing them. Sure … the threat of that is good, but the threat of that is always there.”
Will Zelenskyy join Trump and Putin in Budapest?
When asked if Zelenskyy would be joining the meeting, Trump said, “To be determined.”
He said it most likely will be a “double meeting,” but that Zelenskyy would be in touch throughout.
Trump said there is “bad blood” between Putin and Zelenskyy.
“These two leaders do not like each other and we want to make it comfortable for everybody,” he said.
Trump has momentum to stop Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy
During their meeting, Zelenskyy congratulated Trump on his work toward the truce between Israel and Hamas and expressed confidence that the US President now has “momentum” to stop the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“President Trump now has a big chance to finish this war,” Zelenskyy said.
