President Trump will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House this afternoon for the third time this year amid potential escalations in their war with Russia.
The high stakes meeting will take place in the Cabinet Room of the White House, a departure from the typical Oval Office meetings that the President holds with foreign leaders.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, President Trump had a phone call meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ahead of the meeting.
This came after Trump repeatedly suggested that he will provide Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for offensive purposes by selling them to NATO.
Trump had told reporters on Wednesday, when asked if he is considering other options “shy of Tomahawks,” that “we’re looking at other options.”
“President Zelensky is coming in. I’m not a fan of the war,” Trump said, explaining that Zelensky wants the weapons to launch attacks on Russia.
“We’ll be talking about the war with him, and we’ll be talking about, I mean, they want to go offensive. I’ll make a determination on that, but they would like to go offensive, you know that. And we’ll have to make a determination.”
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Trump announced on Thursday that his meeting with Putin was “very productive,” and that they both agreed to hold a “meeting of our High Level Advisors” next week at an agreed upon location. “I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” he said.
I have just concluded my telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, and it was a very productive one. President Putin congratulated me and the United States on the Great Accomplishment of Peace in the Middle East, something that, he said, has been dreamed of for centuries. I actually believe that the Success in the Middle East will help in our negotiation in attaining an end to the War with Russia/Ukraine. President Putin thanked the First Lady, Melania, for her involvement with children. He was very appreciative, and said that this will continue. We also spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over. At the conclusion of the call, we agreed that there will be a meeting of our High Level Advisors, next week. The United States’ initial meetings will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with various other people, to be designated. A meeting location is to be determined. President Putin and I will then meet in an agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can bring this “inglorious” War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end. President Zelenskyy and I will be meeting tomorrow, in the Oval Office, where we will discuss my conversation with President Putin, and much more. I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation.
The meeting with Zelensky in the Cabinet Room is scheduled to begin at 1:15 pm ET after the President greets Zelensky at 1 pm. Currently, the event is closed to the press, but that could change.
Watch live coverage below:
