US President Donald Trump is holding talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. The main topic is arms supplies. Kiev is asking Washington for security guarantees and also for Tomahawk missiles for strikes deep inside Russia, which Trump called an escalation. Zelensky offered him Ukrainian drones in exchange. On Thursday, Trump spoke with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, who discouraged him from delivering Tomahawks to Kiev.

According to Trump, the Ukrainian president is a"very strong leader" who has "been through a lot of things." He wants to discuss Thursday's phone call with Putin and the planned summit in Hungary with Zelensky."I think things are going pretty well," the White House chief of staff said.

According to him, Putin “wants it to end.” “I think President Zelensky wants it to end too. Now we have to do it,” he said. However, according to the American president, a personal meeting between Putin and Zelensky in Budapest is unlikely to take place.

Request for security guarantees

Zelenskyy began the meeting by thanking his hosts and congratulating Trump on the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip."I think with your help we can end this war," he told the US president. He added that Russia is not currently seeing many successes on the battlefield.

Zelensky said Ukraine wants peace but that Putin needs to be “pressured” to end the war. He added that his country is ready to negotiate in any format. “The most important thing for the people of Ukraine, who are under attack, is security guarantees,” he said when asked if Kiev would give up its application to join NATO to end the conflict. Ukraine wants bilateral security guarantees from the United States, said the leader of a country that has faced Russian military aggression for more than three years.

Tomahawks are very dangerous, says Trump

Trump did not comment on Friday on whether Ukraine would have to cede territory as part of a peace settlement with Russia. Asked how he would feel if Kiev used long-range missiles to attack deeper into Russian territory, he said he would discuss that with Zelensky.

"It's an escalation, but we'll talk about it," said the US president, who hopes the conflict can be ended without the use of Tomahawks."They're very dangerous weapons," the White House chief of staff warned."We don't want to give away weapons that we need to defend our country," he added.

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Asked if he was proposing some kind of trade or exchange, Zelensky offered Washington Ukrainian drones. Trump expressed interest."They make very good drones," the White House chief said.

The Tomahawk BGM-109 cruise missile, which Kiev is requesting, can be launched from battleships, cruisers, destroyers or submarines. The missile flies very low above the ground, avoiding air defense radars. It follows the ground surface during flight and has a speed of around 900 kilometers per hour.

It can hit targets at a distance of up to 2,500 kilometers. With Tomahawks, Ukraine could reach the Urals. However, there is talk of the possible delivery of missiles with a shorter range. According to Zelensky, the delivery of these missiles could help force Moscow to end the war.

Until now, Ukrainians can use British Storm Shadow missiles and also American ATACMS with a range of 300 kilometers, or slower drones of their own production with a range of over a thousand kilometers.

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Retired General Macko and Political Scientist Aslan on Tomahawk Missiles

Source: CT24

Transition to offensive operations

According to Politico, the two presidents will also review plans for Ukrainian forces to transition to offensive operations that could change the situation on the battlefield – but which depend on weapons supplies. These have already been negotiated with American arms companies by a Ukrainian delegation led by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, who traveled to the United States before Zelensky.

After a two-hour phone call with Putin on Thursday, the US president announced that he and the Russian leader will meet in Budapest to try to end the “infamous” war in Ukraine, which Moscow provoked with an open invasion in 2022. Trump spoke of great progress, similar to what he said after the August meeting in Alaska. But it did not ensure peace.