Trump Plays Nice With Zelenskyy After Turning On Him Earlier In Week

On Wednesday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of saying “nasty” things about him and criticized him for not reaching a deal with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of Zelenskyy’s country.

But Friday, both men were, if not all smiles, at least only somewhat visibly awkward as they tried to paper over a central difference in their stances: Trump has declined to say which side he favors in Russia’s war on Ukraine, and Zelenskyy has insisted on a “just” end to the war that would preserve his country’s pre-conflict boundaries.

The Friday morning meeting in New York City between Trump and Zelenskyy capped off a roller-coaster week for the Ukrainian president, whose bid to keep fighting hinges heavily on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, given the U.S. supply of weapons is allowing the much-smaller Ukraine to remain in the fight.

“We need [a] just peace, we need [a] just peace. It’s so important to have [a] just peace for the people, especially for the families who lost their children. It’s [a] big tragedy,” Zelenskyy to the U.S., Oksana Markarova. Johnson accused Markarova of setting up a “partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference.”

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) also asked the Defense Department to provide details of why Zelenskyy was taken to the event aboard an Air Force plane.

Polling shows that support for helping Ukraine fend off Russia’s brutal invasion remains steady in the U.S. and that support for Zelenskyy in particular is high.

A Sept. 21-24 Economist/YouGov poll found 53% of respondents want to continue or increase military aid to Ukraine, compared with 28% who want to decrease it. The issue is polarizing, though, as 44% of Republicans wanted to cut aid. And by a margin of 51% to 25%, those polled approved of allowing Ukraine to hit strategic targets deep inside Russia, a move U.S. officials have been hesitant to allow for fear it will anger the Kremlin.

Zelenskyy’s favorability rating continued to be well above any major domestic politician’s, at +17 percentage points. Biden’s was at -16 in the poll, Vice President Kamala Harris was even and Trump was at -14.

Zelenskyy got a much warmer reception during the week from Democrats, including appearances with President Joe Biden and Harris on Thursday and the announcement of about $8 billion in military aid.

The administration pledged additional air defense supplies, including U.S.-made “glide bombs” that will allow for longer-range strikes, and to support the training of 18 more F-16 fighter pilots.

Harris signaled she was firmly in Zelenskyy’s corner.

“Putin started this war, and he could end it tomorrow if he simply withdrew his troops from Ukraine’s sovereign territory,” she said.

Zelenskyy said Friday that he met with both presidential candidates to show Ukraine could work with either after the election. But the gnawing concern among Ukrainians and their advocates, that Trump will in the end favor Putin in any attempt to broker peace should he be elected, appeared to still hang in the air as Trump and Zelenskyy met with reporters before their meeting.

Trump again touted his “very good relationship” with Putin, leading Zelenskyy, a former comedic actor before he became president, to point between the two of them and interject, “I hope we have more good relations.”

“Oh, I see,” Trump said, with a small laugh.