After their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Ukrainian and US Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump spoke to journalists.
Zelensky thanked the United States for its support and spoke about the success of the Ukrainian military. According to him, thanks to the PURL program and American assistance, it was possible to de-occupy 360 square kilometers of territory and capture about a thousand Russian soldiers. The President of Ukraine emphasized the importance of further sanctions against Russia and supported Washington’s idea to stop buying Russian energy in Europe.
Answering journalists’ questions, Trump said that NATO countries should shoot down Russian planes if their airspace is violated. At the same time, he evaded a specific answer about possible security guarantees for Ukraine, noting that “it’s too early to talk about it.”
The US president also expressed hope that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban would change his position on purchasing Russian oil. Trump emphasized that the Russian economy is in a difficult situation, and the war, which the Kremlin planned to end in a few days, has been going on for three and a half years.
Commenting on the drone incident in Copenhagen, Trump said he was not ready to make statements without more information. At the same time, he noted the increase in defense spending by NATO members to 5% of GDP and emphasized that the funds are now being used to purchase weapons from the United States.
Concluding his speech, Trump thanked Ukrainians for their courage and emphasized that the war has lasted longer than most predicted, but Ukraine continues to resist.