During a bilateral meeting between the U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a light-hearted moment occurred when a reporter made a remark about Zelenskyy’s outfit.
Brian Glenn, a reporter known for his pro-Trump stance, complimented, “First of all, President Zelensky, you look fabulous in that suit.” Trump quickly added, “I said the same thing.” This comment highlighted because Glenn had previously criticised Zelenskyy in February for not wearing a suit during his visit to the White House.
With a smile, Zelenskyy responded, “And you’re in the same suit.” Glenn later expressed regret for his earlier comments and told Zelenskyy he looked “wonderful.”
On Monday, Zelenskyy was seen in a dark jacket and shirt, though without a tie.
The conversation then turned to politics, when Glenn asked if Zelenskyy is open to hold elections in Ukraine once a peace deal is completed. Zelenskyy replied affirmatively and said, “Yes, of course, I am open to holding elections, but we have to conduct them in safe circumstances. We need security to hold elections.”
On being asked about his ‘severe consequences if a ceasefire is not agreed to’ warning, ahead of his meeting with President Putin last week, Trump said that the issue was redundant now as he was more focused on ending the war, and not just having a ceasefire.
“I don’t think he’d need a ceasefire… I didn’t do any ceasefires… But if you look at the six deals we have made, they involve peace and long-term, long-running wars; I didn’t do any ceasefires. I like the concept of a ceasefire for one reason: you would stop killing people immediately, as opposed to two weeks or one week or whatever it takes. We are working on a peace deal while they are fighting. I wish they could stop, and I want them to stop, but strategically, it could be a disadvantage for one side or the other. I have made all these deals without the mention of the word ‘ceasefire’.”
Trump said that there was a narrative that Ukraine would never join NATO, and they would discuss this later.
He said, “If you look back long before President Putin, it was always a statement that they would never allow Ukraine into NATO, but we haven’t discussed any of that yet. We will be discussing that today. We will give them very good protection and security, and that is a part of it…”
Trump said that he spoke to Putin ‘indirectly’ on ending the war.
He said, “I just spoke to President Putin indirectly, and we are going to have a phone call right after these meetings, and we may or may not have a tri-lateral. If we don’t have a trilateral, the fighting continues, and if we have it, there’s a good chance of ending it,” he said.
Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump follows an earlier meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend.
European leaders also arrived in Washington to show solidarity with Ukraine and advocate for strong security guarantees in any post-war settlement.
The meeting involved Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, PM Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Finland’s Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission.
