Donald Trump warns Ukraine President Zelenskyy to accept Russia’s terms or ‘he will…’, changes his stance over war

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Following the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “destroy” Ukraine if he did not accept the terms to end the war. At the meeting held at the White House, Trump called on both Ukraine and Russia to “stay where they are.”

Trump warned Zelenskyy

According to the information provided by the sources to the Financial Times, the meeting between the two presidents turned into a “shouting match”, while Trump was seen “constantly swearing” many times throughout the tense meeting. This was the fifth meeting between the two leaders since Trump regained the US presidency.

The FT revealed that Trump told Zelenskyy that Putin had described the conflict as “not even a war, but a special operation” and warned the Ukrainian leader that he must make a deal with him or he would be destroyed, an official familiar with the matter said. He also said that while pointing out the fact that Ukraine had lost the war, Trump warned Zelenskyy and said, “If [Putin] If he wants, he can destroy you.”

According to European officials, Trump’s remarks contradicted his previous position in which he mentioned that Russia’s military strength was low. He made another contradictory statement in his latest statement regarding Russia’s declining economy. While he told Zelenskyy that the Russian economy was “going well”, he had previously asked Putin to make a deal so that Russia’s “economy would collapse”.

Officials also said Donald Trump set aside maps of Ukraine showing frontline positions and expressed frustration at being shown the same map over and over again. “I don’t even know where that red line is. I’ve never been there,” he said. He also called on Zelenskyy to hand over the entire Donbas region to Russia.

At Friday’s meeting, Zelenskyy called on US President Donald Trump to take a tougher stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that he is ready to attend the upcoming Budapest summit and remains optimistic despite leaving the US without the weapons it demands.