Former President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Friday, promising that he "can work out something that's good for both sides" to end the Russia-Ukraine war, if elected.
In response to VOA's question, the Republican presidential nominee repeated his claim he will quickly end the fighting that began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"We have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin. And I think if we win, I think we're going to get it resolved very quickly."
It's a significant meeting for Zelenskyy as he works for assurances that Washington will continue to support his war efforts no matter who wins in U.S. presidential election in November.
"We have a common view that the war in Ukraine has to be stopped, and Putin can't win," Zelenskyy said as he stood next to Trump.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants the Russia-Ukraine war to end but has not stated whether he wants Kyiv to win or keep all its territories.
"We'll see what happens," he said Thursday in response to a question about whether Ukraine should turn over some of its own land to Russia to end the war.
Zelenskyy admitted he cannot win against Russia before the tightly contested presidential election.
"We understand that after November we have to decide, and we hope that the friends of [the] United States will be very strong, and we count on it," he said. "That's why I decided to meet with both candidates, with all honor to them."
Trump is virtually tied in the polls with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. Zelenskyy with Harris in Washington on Thursday, following a separate meeting with President Joe Biden.
Unlike Trump, who is pushing for Kyiv to strike a deal with Moscow, Harris underscored that it's up to Ukraine to decide how the war will end.
"I will continue to stand with Ukraine, and I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails in this war," she vowed.
Without mentioning names, Harris criticized Trump by denouncing calls for Ukraine to end the war by ceding territory to Russia, focusing on a proposal from Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance that would mean Ukraine is left with less land and no path to an alliance with the West.
Vance suggested in a recent interview that Ukraine and Russia halt fighting and create a demilitarized zone at the current battle lines. Kyiv would need to adhere to a neutral status and stop its bid to join NATO.
"These proposals are the same as those of Putin, and let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace," Harris said. "Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable."
"It's not a surrender," Trump responded Thursday. "What my strategy is, to save lives."
Tension between Trump and Zelenskyy
Tension has been brewing between the two leaders. During a campaign event in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump slammed Zelenskyy for making "little, nasty aspersions" toward him. He appeared to be referring to Zelenskyy's comments in a recent New Yorker magazine article that Trump "doesn't really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how."
Trump suggested the Ukrainian leader together with the Biden administration are at fault for prolonging the war that followed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"Biden and Kamala allowed this to happen by feeding Zelenskyy money and munitions like no country has ever seen before," Trump said. He argued that Kyiv should have made concessions to Moscow before Russian troops attacked, asserting that Ukraine is now "in rubble" and in no position to negotiate the war's end.
Zelenskyy, who has been in the United States since Sunday to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, was scheduled to depart Thursday but extended his visit as Trump announced the meeting.
Trump complains of impeachment
Trump spent a significant part of the open-to-press portion of his Friday meeting with Zelenskyy complaining about his 2019 impeachment by Democrats in Congress.
The impeachment was triggered by a phone call he had with Zelenskyy in July of that year in which Trump, who was president at the time, asked the Ukrainian leader to start an investigation into Biden — then his Democratic presidential rival — and his son Hunter Biden.
"It was a hoax, just a Democrat hoax, which we won," said Trump, who was acquitted by the Republican-majority Senate at that time.
Trump praised Zelenskyy for being "like a piece of steel" in supporting his claim that he did nothing wrong during their phone call. Zelenskyy did not respond to Trump's remarks related to the impeachment.
Zelenskyy is also dealing with attacks from congressional Republicans loyal to Trump demanding that the Ukrainian leader fire his ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, over Zelenskyy's visit earlier this week to an ammunition factory in Pennsylvania, a hotly contested battleground state in the November U.S. presidential election. Zelenskyy met with the Democratic governor of the state, Josh Shapiro.
In a letter to Zelenskyy, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday said the visit to the factory that makes munitions for Ukraine was a "partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats," that amounts to "election interference."
The White House called Johnson's letter a "political stunt" and pointed out that Zelenskyy recently met Republican Governor of Utah Spencer Cox in a "similar event."
Ahead of Zelenskyy's visit, the U.S. administration announced $8 billion in new aid for Ukraine. In a statement, Biden said the aid includes a Patriot missile battery and missiles, as well as air-to-ground munitions and a precision-guided glide bomb with a range of up to 130 kilometers.
The White House said no announcement is imminent regarding Ukraine's request for weapons donors to allow Ukrainian forces to use the weapons to strike targets deeper inside Russia.
Iuliia Iarmolenko, Tatiana Koprowicz and Iryna Solomko Bonenberger contributed to this report.
