Donald Trump said
he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, having
criticized him on the U.S. campaign trail and expressed doubts about Ukraine's
ability to win its war with Russia.
Trump, the
Republican candidate in the Nov. 5 presidential election,
made the announcement on Thursday, just hours after Democratic President Joe
Biden announced more than $8
billion in new military aid for the U.S. ally.
Zelenskiy
has long sought a meeting with Trump. The two men spoke by phone in July but
have not met in person since Trump's term as president ended in 2021.
During a
press conference on Thursday, Trump repeated his claims that he could rapidly
negotiate a deal between Russia and Ukraine if he defeats Biden's vice
president, Kamala Harris,
the Democratic candidate in the race for the White House.
"President
Zelenskiy has asked to meet with me, and I will be meeting with him tomorrow
morning at around 9:45 in Trump Tower" in New York, Trump said.
Asked by a
reporter if Ukraine might have to give up any of its territory to reach a peace
deal with Moscow - a non-starter for Kyiv - Trump did not rule it out.
"We'll
see what happens," he said.
Shortly
before Trump's comments, Harris pledged support for Ukraine and - in a veiled
reference to Trump -
said those who would have Ukraine swap land for peace with Russia were
supporting "proposals of surrender."
Harris was
speaking alongside Zelenskiy at the White House, a day after Trump assailed him
for not making a deal with Russia that Trump said could have ended the war and
shortly after the White House announcement of the new aid package.
It was
Harris' seventh meeting with Zelenskiy and the third this year.
ZELENSKIY
SOUGHT MEETING WITH TRUMP
Earlier in
the week, Trump looked poised to reject Zelenskiy's meeting request.
The
Ukrainian leader had said before departing for New York for the annual U.N.
General Assembly that he hoped to present his "victory plan" to win
the war with Russia to Harris, Trump and Biden.
But he upset
Trump's campaign after visiting a munitions factory over the weekend in the
battleground state of Pennsylvania with that state's governor, Josh Shapiro, a
Democrat and a Harris ally.
Trump has
stood by his criticisms of Zelenskiy on the campaign trail. He said on Monday
that Zelenskiy wanted Harris to win the election, and on Wednesday he called
the Eastern European nation "dead" and "demolished."
The U.S aid
announced by Biden includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb
called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81 miles (130 km).
The
medium-range missile gives Ukraine a major upgrade to the weapons it is using
to strike Russian forces, allowing the Ukrainians to do it at safer distances.
The bulk of
the new aid, $5.5 billion, is to be allocated before Monday's end of the U.S.
fiscal year, when the funding authority is set to expire. Another $2.4 billion
is under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the
administration to buy weapons for Ukraine from companies rather than pull them
from U.S. stocks.
Biden also
said he would order the Pentagon to expand training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots,
including by supporting the training of an additional 18 pilots next year.
Zelenskiy
thanked Biden and the U.S. Congress for the new military aid package, saying
Ukraine would use it "in the most efficient and transparent manner".
"I am
grateful to the United States for providing the items that are most critical to
protecting our people," Zelenskiy said on X, mentioning a Patriot battery,
drones and long-range missiles.