Axios: Trump tells Zelenskyy he doesn't want to give Tomahawk, at least not yet

During a tense meeting on October 17, U.S. president Donald Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he does not intend to provide Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk missiles, at least for now. About this declares American media outlet Axios, citing two people with knowledge of the meeting.

According to media reports, Zelenskyy hoped to leave Washington with US commitments to supply new weapons to Ukraine, but found Trump in a completely different mood the day after his call with the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

The interlocutors noted that the US president has made it clear that his priority is diplomacy, and he believes that the Tomahawk delivery could undermine it.

One of the interlocutors said that the meeting was "was not easy," while another simply said that it was "bad."

"Nobody shouted, but Trump was tough," said the first of them.

The second said that the US leader "gave several strong statements during meeting and at some points it got a bit emotional."

According to Axios, the meeting at the White House ended abruptly after two and a half hours.

"I think we're done. Let's see what happens next week," Trump said, referring to the planned talks between the US and Russia.

US president intends to meet with Putin in Budapest within the next two weeks.

The media claims that at the meeting, Trump informed Zelenskyy about his conversation with Putin and emphasized that the US proposal for a diplomatic solution to the war is for the war to end with a freeze on the front line. This is the position of the US president hinted in a post on his social network Truth Social.

Immediately after the meeting, Zelenskyy spoke with European leaders. Some of them were surprised by Trump's apparent change of heart, according to an Axios source who participated in the call.

Shortly afterward, European leaders began issuing coordinated statements in support of Ukraine – according to the media, this is a clear indication that the White House meeting had not been successful.

The interlocutors also said that Zelenskyy strongly insisted on the Tomahawk in the negotiations, but Trump resisted and showed no flexibility.

During Zelenskyy's conversation with European leaders, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered to work with the United States to develop a peace plan for Ukraine in the manner of what Trump has done to resolve the in the Gaza Strip, the interlocutor who participated in the call said.

Also, as the media points out, the secretary general Mark Rutte proposed an urgent second phone call between European national security advisors over the weekend.

Before the meeting, the head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak claimed that Zelenskyy hopes that the talks in the White House will lead to clear decisions on the part of the United States as to what weapons systems it is ready to provide to Ukraine.

However, Axios concludes that Trump has not provided such commitments.

• After the meeting with the US president, the Ukrainian president confirmed that they had discussed the delivery of Tomahawks.
• According to Zelenskyy, Trump noted that the United States also needs these missiles. However, the Ukrainian president emphasized that "no one has canceled this topic".