On Friday, Trump will receive Zelensky for talks in the White House. According to the Ukrainian government, the most important topic of the meeting is the possible delivery of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Tomahawk cruise missiles have a range of up to 2,500 kilometers and would enable Ukraine to attack deep into Russian territory. Zelensky spoke to Trump in two phone calls over the weekend about the use of long-range weapons.
Trump and Putin met in mid-August in the US state of Alaska. However, the meeting did not bring any progress towards a ceasefire in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing for more than three and a half years. Rather, Russia continued its attacks with undiminished severity.
Trump declared during his election campaign that he would end the war in Ukraine within “24 hours” after taking office in January. Most recently, he repeatedly expressed his disappointment and displeasure with the behavior of the Russian head of state. The relationship between Trump and Zelensky, however, had noticeably improved in recent months.
