Sept. 27 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump said he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Trump Tower in New York City on Friday.
Trump said in a news conference on Thursday that he would meet with Zelensky at 9:45 a.m. on Friday as the Ukrainian leader is making a push to sell Kyiv’s “victory plan” to stave off a Russian invasion as he traveled to the United States to attend the U.N. General Assembly.
Trump claimed that Zelensky had requested the meeting, which comes after the two spoke on a phone call in July during Which Zelensky said he stressed the importance of U.S. support for Ukraine.
Zelensky said he and Trump made plans “to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting.”
The two have been at odds publicly as Trump has publicly criticized the Biden-Harris administration for “feeding Zelensky money and munitions like no country has ever seen before,” while claiming on multiple occasions that he would “end the war” without providing specifics on how he would go about it.
“I don’t want to tell you what that looks like,” Trump said of his plan during Thursday’s press conference.
A call between the two was also at the center of Trump’s first impeachment in 2019.
Zelensky has also spoken out publicly against Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, who he has called “too extreme,” citing concerns that he would seek to give away occupied Ukrainian territory to Russia and withhold funding for Kyiv’s war effort.
Despite the tension, Trump said he does “look forward to seeing” Zelensky, during Thursday’s press conference.
“I do believe I disagree with him. He doesn’t know me. I will say this — I believe I will be able to make a deal between President [Vladimir] Putin and President Zelensky quite quickly,” Trump said.
Zelensky met separately Thursday with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic opponent in November’s election. After her meeting, Harris spoke forcefully about supporting Ukraine, hinting that she would likely continue Biden’s support for the country during the Russian invasion.
