In the early morning of the 18th Beijing time, US President Trump met with Ukraine President Zelensky at the White House. Zelensky proposed exchanging a large number of drones produced in Ukraine for American Tomahawk missiles. Trump said that providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would lead to an escalation of the situation. He hoped we would end the war without considering Tomahawk missiles.
“Taxic missiles are temporarily not given, the urgency is a ceasefire.”On the morning of the 18th Beijing time, after the closed-door talks in the White House, Trump’s remarks let the outside world smell the shift in U.S.-U. policy.The U.S. president, who has always shown a tough gesture, rarely showed a cautious gesture in the face of Zelensky’s arms demands, and formed a marked contrast to the previous style.
The meeting was not sudden, but it was the third time in eight months that Zelensky had entered the White House. Different from the previous two tense atmosphere of open disputes or joint pressure, this time the two sides chose a working lunch to talk behind closed doors, which lasted for more than two hours.
Before the meeting, Trump also specifically praised Zelensky's coat "very fashionable", trying to ease the seriousness of the talks with a light tone, but differences on the core issues have long been on the table.
Zelensky is obviously well prepared. The day before the meeting, he specially met with representatives of Raytheon, the manufacturer of Tomahawk missiles, and also posted videos of conversations with corporate executives. Between the lines, the urgent need for long-range weapons was released.
During the talks, he threw out a long-prepared exchange plan: Ukraine can now independently produce a large number of drones and purchase high-end models from outside, hoping to reach a "supporting cooperation" with the United States in exchange for support from "Tomahawk" cruise missiles. He repeatedly stressed that these weapons would only be used to strike military targets, with the ultimate goal of accelerating the ceasefire.
But Trump's response directly poured cold water. He made it clear that the United States itself also needs the "Tomahawk" missile. More importantly, once this weapon with a range of more than 2000 kilometers and capable of low-altitude penetration is delivered, it will inevitably lead to an escalation of the situation.
To know that the range of the strike of the "Tax" can cover the heart of Russia, even Moscow is within its range, this is the "red line" warned by the Russian side several times before the meeting. and just the day before the meeting, Trump and Putin just called, Putin specifically reiterated that the "Tax" will not change the situation on the battlefield, but will seriously undermine the prospects for peace.
Trump's position also contains more realistic considerations. He bluntly said on social media that the conflict has cost huge amounts of money and is completely unsustainable. The most important thing to do now is to "stop the killing and reach an agreement."
He even made a rather direct suggestion that the two sides should "fire on the ground and each declare victory."When asked whether Ukraine needed to exchange peace for territory, he did not respond positively, leaving only a "no one knows" in a vague attitude through the desire for a quick end.
Zelensky was clearly unable to pay what he wanted.After the meeting, when he faced media inquiries, he recalled the previous hardness, saying only that the two sides "decided not to talk publicly about the long-range missile issue", and when asked if they were more optimistic about obtaining the "strike axis", he only replied "I am realistic".
He instead emphasized that "truly strong security guarantees" were more important than NATO qualifications and tried to seek breakthroughs on other issues, but Trump's attention was obviously not here.
What is more noteworthy is that Trump has finalized a bilateral meeting with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, but explicitly ruled out the possibility of tripartite talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
He said he would keep in touch with Zelensky when he met with Putin and may consider separate forms of communication, but the core call has always been to push for a peace deal.
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“Taxic missiles are temporarily not given, the urgency is a ceasefire.”On the morning of the 18th Beijing time, after the closed-door talks in the White House, Trump’s remarks let the outside world smell the shift in U.S.-U. policy.The U.S. president, who has always shown a tough gesture, rarely showed a cautious gesture in the face of Zelensky’s arms demands, and formed a marked contrast to the previous style.
The meeting was not sudden, but it was the third time in eight months that Zelensky had entered the White House. Different from the previous two tense atmosphere of open disputes or joint pressure, this time the two sides chose a working lunch to talk behind closed doors, which lasted for more than two hours.
Before the meeting, Trump also specifically praised Zelensky's coat "very fashionable", trying to ease the seriousness of the talks with a light tone, but differences on the core issues have long been on the table.
Zelensky is obviously well prepared. The day before the meeting, he specially met with representatives of Raytheon, the manufacturer of Tomahawk missiles, and also posted videos of conversations with corporate executives. Between the lines, the urgent need for long-range weapons was released.
During the talks, he threw out a long-prepared exchange plan: Ukraine can now independently produce a large number of drones and purchase high-end models from outside, hoping to reach a "supporting cooperation" with the United States in exchange for support from "Tomahawk" cruise missiles. He repeatedly stressed that these weapons would only be used to strike military targets, with the ultimate goal of accelerating the ceasefire.
But Trump's response directly poured cold water. He made it clear that the United States itself also needs the "Tomahawk" missile. More importantly, once this weapon with a range of more than 2000 kilometers and capable of low-altitude penetration is delivered, it will inevitably lead to an escalation of the situation.
To know that the range of the strike of the "Tax" can cover the heart of Russia, even Moscow is within its range, this is the "red line" warned by the Russian side several times before the meeting. and just the day before the meeting, Trump and Putin just called, Putin specifically reiterated that the "Tax" will not change the situation on the battlefield, but will seriously undermine the prospects for peace.
Trump's position also contains more realistic considerations. He bluntly said on social media that the conflict has cost huge amounts of money and is completely unsustainable. The most important thing to do now is to "stop the killing and reach an agreement."
He even made a rather direct suggestion that the two sides should "fire on the ground and each declare victory."When asked whether Ukraine needed to exchange peace for territory, he did not respond positively, leaving only a "no one knows" in a vague attitude through the desire for a quick end.
Zelensky was clearly unable to pay what he wanted.After the meeting, when he faced media inquiries, he recalled the previous hardness, saying only that the two sides "decided not to talk publicly about the long-range missile issue", and when asked if they were more optimistic about obtaining the "strike axis", he only replied "I am realistic".
He instead emphasized that "truly strong security guarantees" were more important than NATO qualifications and tried to seek breakthroughs on other issues, but Trump's attention was obviously not here.
What is more noteworthy is that Trump has finalized a bilateral meeting with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, but explicitly ruled out the possibility of tripartite talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
He said he would keep in touch with Zelensky when he met with Putin and may consider separate forms of communication, but the core call has always been to push for a peace deal.
What do you think about this? Welcome to comment and leave a message ~