Trump also declined to provide Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine’s use, and mused about giving security guarantees to both Kyiv and Moscow, comments that the Ukrainian delegation found confusing, added the two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
President Donald Trump pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to give up swaths of territory to Russia during a tense meeting on Friday that left the Ukrainian delegation disappointed, according to two people briefed on the discussion.
After his meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump publicly called for a ceasefire on the current frontlines, a position that the Ukrainian president then embraced in comments to reporters. A third person said Trump came up with that proposal during the meeting after Zelenskyy said he would not voluntarily cede any territory to Moscow.
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Still, the meeting was a clear disappointment for Zelenskyy, who had hoped to convince Trump to supply his government with long-range Tomahawk missiles capable of hitting deep inside Russia.
Elements of the talks were first reported by The Financial Times on Sunday.
In recent weeks, there had been indications Trump was deprioritizing efforts to force a deal on Kyiv and Moscow, in favor of throwing his full support behind the Ukrainians.
But the Friday meeting indicates that Trump may revert to mediating a deal. US officials repeatedly brought up the possibility of a territorial swap between Ukraine and Russia – an idea that Trump had embraced earlier in the year – and the US president said a quick agreement was essential, the sources said
