A shouting match with prolonged cursing is reported to be the climax of the visit by Ukraine’s acting president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House on Oct. 17. Financial Times cited multiple anonymous sources that the meeting descended into a “shouting match” with “cursing all the time,” as U.S. President Donald Trump hit Zelenskyy over the head on the reality of his situation. At one point, Trump told Zelenskyy he was losing the war and that, apparently, Putin has shown restraint. Trump stated: “If he wants it, he will destroy you.”
FT reported, from one official, that, after the meeting, “Zelenskyy was very negative.” Curiously, whereas Ukraine’s Office of the President website carries five different reports on Zelenskyy’s trip to Washington—such as his meetings with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin—there is no mention of his meeting with Trump.
The Washington Post on Oct. 18 cited two senior officials, one of whom was a senior European diplomat, supposedly familiar with the Oct. 16 Trump-Putin phone call, to report that Putin had demanded Kiev surrender full control of the Donetsk region as a condition for ending the war. The daily noted that this had not been previously reported and that Trump had said nothing to this effect publicly.
The two officials said that Putin suggested he would be willing to give up on conquering all of Zaporizhye and Kherson, in exchange for full control of Donetsk. One official said that some White House officials portrayed that as progress; however, the senior European diplomat said that Ukrainians are unlikely to view it that way. Both officials noted that Trump envoy Steve Witkoff pressed the Ukrainian delegation about handing over Donetsk, noting that the region is mostly Russian-speaking.
Overall, it is only by coming from respect for Russia’s security concerns that peace can be fully achieved.
