Trump says he will meet with Zelenskyy on Friday

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday morning at Trump Tower in New York.

Trump was previously not expected to meet with the Ukrainian president, who has already held meetings on Thursday with both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Both Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, have been critical of the U.S. aid to Ukraine.

“It’s a shame what’s happening in Ukraine: so many deaths, so much destruction. It’s a horrible thing,” Trump said on Thursday. “And one of the things that are very bothersome to me is the fact that Europe is paying only a small fraction of the money that the United States of America is paying, and we have an ocean between Russia and ourselves. They don’t.”

In what might have been one of his final visits with the Biden administration on U.S. soil, Zelenskyy traveled to the White House on Thursday to meet with Biden just weeks before his successor will be determined in the November presidential election.

Biden announced nearly $8 billion in a new support package for Ukraine, which Zelenskyy called “a great help.”

The visit punctuated Democratic leaders’ staunch support of Ukraine in its war with Russia but foreshadows a potential change in the countries’ relationship if Trump clinches the election.

During the September presidential debate, Trump was asked twice whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war. Both times he ducked the question, avoiding saying that he wanted the U.S. ally to win. Instead, he said, “I want the war to stop.”

Zelenskyy and Harris have met seven times, the leaders said today, and the Democratic nominee has echoed Biden’s steadfast support of the beleaguered country.

“We have common view on the things that need to be done,” Zelenskyy said ahead of a meeting with the vice president.

“There are some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality, and would require Ukraine to forego security relationships with other nations,” Harris said ahead of her meeting with Zelenskyy, appearing to reference Trump. “These proposals are the same of those of Putin and let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.”