'Let both claim victory': Trump urges Russia, Ukraine to 'stop' war after Zelensky meeting

Washington, Oct 18 (IANS) US President Donald Trump hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, a day after holding a two-and-a-half-hour-long phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After the meeting, Trump posted his assessment on Truth Social, calling his meeting with Zelensky "very interesting and cordial".

"The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a deal!" he wrote.

Trump also advocated that both leaders should "stop where they are" and "claim victory".

"They should stop where they are. Let both claim victory, let history decide! No more shooting, no more death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent. This is a war that would have never started if I were President. Thousands of people being slaughtered each and every week -- no more, go home to your families in peace!" he added.

While speaking to the media ahead of the bilateral meeting, Trump appeared to move away from his earlier position of providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, saying "he would rather have them not need Tomahawks."

"We are going to be talking about tomahawks, and would much rather have them not need tomahawks. Would much rather have the war be over, to be honest. We are in it to get the war over," he added.

Trump said that the United States needs those missiles for its own security.

"We need tomahawks. And we need a lot of other things that we've been sending over the last four years to Ukraine," he noted.

However, the Ukrainian leader once again pressed Trump for the Tomahawks, which have a range of around 2,500 kilometres and could hit targets deep inside Russia.

"Ukraine has thousands of our production drones, but we don't have Tomahawks. That's why we need Tomahawks," the Ukrainian President added.

Trump and Zelensky also offered contrasting views on Putin's intentions, with Trump asserting that the Russian leader "wants to end the war", while Zelensky maintained that "Putin doesn't want" to end it.

After speaking with Putin on Thursday, Trump said he believed "great progress was made during today's telephone conversation" and announced plans to meet the Russian leader in Budapest, Hungary.

He also revealed that a team of high-level advisors led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet next week with Russian officials to set the stage for a second Trump-Putin meeting in three months.

Trump's highly publicised summit in Alaska in August ended without an agreement, and he began taking a hard line on Russia.

Fresh off the success in stopping the Gaza conflict, Trump has turned his attention back to the Ukraine War.

When asked whether Putin was merely trying to buy time, Trump responded that he had been "played by the best of them", but insisted he still "came out really well".

"I'm pretty good at this stuff. I think that he wants to make a deal. I made eight of them. I'm going to make a ninth," he emphasised.

Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Gregory Meeks, criticised the US President for failing to "deliver today on providing any support for Ukraine."

"This isn't Trump bringing peace through strength; this is weakness through appeasement," he added.

--IANS

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