Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy hold press conference — NBC

[0:11] We discussed a lot of points, and I do think we're getting a lot closer, maybe very close. [0:18] The president and I just spoke to the European leaders. They were [0:24] President Emmanuel Macron of France, President Alexander Stubb of the Republic of Finland, [0:32] President Karol Noraki of the Republic of Poland, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storr [0:40] of the Kingdom of Norway, Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney of the Italian Republic, [0:49] Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland, [0:57] Chancellor Frederick Mertz, the Federal Republic of Germany, Secretary General Mark Rutte, [1:06] the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO, President Ursula van der Leyen of the European [1:15] Commission. We spoke to all of those great leaders. They're all great leaders, [1:20] and we had a great talk with them. After we were completed, we thought it was appropriate to speak [1:25] with them. And our meeting was excellent. We covered, somebody would say, 95 percent. I don't know what [1:33] percent, but we have made a lot of progress on ending that war, which is really the certainly [1:39] the most deadly war since World War II, probably the biggest war since World War II. [1:44] And I want to thank Steve Whitcoff, who's here. And I'd like to thank Jared, who's here someplace. [1:50] Thank you, Jared. And thank you, Steve. What a great job you've done. Jared Kushner, Steve Whitcoff. [1:57] And Marco Rubio is here. Thank you, Marco. And Pete Hegseth is here. Those two people are doing an [2:05] unbelievable job. And the four people on this one are doing, I don't think anybody could do it. We'll see [2:12] if it gets done, but it's very close, certainly. Nobody would even have a chance of getting it [2:17] to where it is right now. Nobody would have thought that was possible. [2:21] So I just want to say we've done very well. We've had discussions on just about every subject, [2:27] and that includes with President Putin before. And we went into great detail, and we likewise went [2:34] into great detail today. And it was an honor to have you at Mar-a-Lago and have lunch. I hope you enjoy [2:39] the food. Your people enjoy the food, I can tell you that. You're big, strong people. Your general [2:45] over there. It looks like central casting. I want to also, by the way, speaking of generals, [2:50] we have a great general, General Raisin Cain, who is here someplace. Thank you. General, [2:55] thank you very much. He's great. So, Mr. President, maybe you want to say a few words, and then we'll [3:02] speak over the next couple of weeks. We'll speak probably quite a bit, but we'll speak tomorrow. [3:06] Thank you very much. Appreciate it. [3:08] Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. President. [3:09] Thank you. [3:10] Thank you for everything. Dear colleagues, first of all, I would like to thank [3:14] President Trump for a great meeting at this amazing place in his home in Mar-a-Lago. And we had a [3:22] really great discussions on all the topics, and we appreciate the progress that was made by [3:27] American and Ukrainian teams in these recent weeks. Special thanks to Steve Weedkopf and Jared Kushner, [3:34] and thank you to – for their engagement and full commitment, and also to our team, [3:42] and first of all, to Rustem Omerman, General Gnatov, and to all our teams. [3:46] And we discussed all the aspects of the peace framework, which includes – and we have great [3:52] achievements – 20-point peace plan, 90 percent agreed, and U.S.-Ukraine security guarantees, [3:58] 100 percent agreed. U.S.-Ukraine security guarantees almost agreed. Military dimension, [4:04] 100 percent agreed. Prosperity plan being finalized, and we also discussed [4:09] the sequencing of the following actions. And we agree that security guarantees is a key [4:16] milestone in achieving lasting peace, and our teams will continue working on all aspects. We also had a [4:23] joint productive call with European leaders, like President Trump said already, and a lot of leaders, [4:29] including NATO and the EU. And we agreed that our teams will meet in upcoming weeks to finalize [4:36] all discussed matters. And we agreed with President Trump that he will host us, and maybe in Washington, [4:44] European leaders, and Ukrainian delegation. Yes, in January. And Ukraine is ready for peace. [4:50] And once again, we'd like to thank President Trump for a warm, welcome, and substantial discussion. [4:57] Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. [4:58] Thank you so much. [5:00] Any questions, please? [5:01] Mr. President, the U.S.-Ukraine security guarantees, what number are we at right now? [5:11] Well, I think we're – look, you can say 95 percent, but I don't like to say percentages. I just think [5:17] we're doing very well. We're very – we could be very close. There are one or two very thorny issues, [5:22] very tough issues. But I think we're doing very well. We've made a lot of progress today. But really, [5:27] we've made it over the last month. This is not a one-day process deal. This is very complicated stuff. [5:33] But I think when the President says 95, I think, you know, it could be close to 95 percent. Yeah. [5:38] Please, behind you. [5:39] The Press. Mr. President, have you agreed on the so-called free trade zone on Donbas? How to separate [5:46] the sides? How to make the separation line? Who will be responsible? [5:52] The word agreed is too strong. I would say not agreed, [5:54] but we're getting closer to an agreement on that. And that's a big issue, certainly. [5:59] That's one of the big issues. And I think we're closer than we're – probably [6:04] one – it's unresolved, but it's getting a lot closer. That's a very tough issue, [6:11] but one that I think will get resolved. Yeah, please. [6:13] You're receiving some mixed signals coming from Moscow, even after you spoke with President Putin. [6:19] Can you assure us that you have received written or any formal response from them? [6:23] Well, what was the issue? You have to tell me. What did they say? [6:26] They are telling that Ukraine has to give up Donbas. Just a very recent statement coming out of the way. [6:32] Well, that's what they've been asking for. And, you know, there's a dispute about that. [6:37] So they're going to have to iron that out. It's an issue they have to iron out. [6:40] It's, but I think it's moving in the right direction. [6:45] If they reject the solution or peace agreement [6:49] that you try to achieve, what's the problem? [6:52] If something doesn't happen? [6:54] You mean if something doesn't happen? [6:56] Yeah, go ahead. [6:58] May I ask a question? [6:59] No, go ahead. [7:00] You were going to finish your question. [7:01] Will there be any step that the United States [7:02] will be prepared? [7:03] Well, we'll see. [7:04] Look, we'll see. [7:05] But I don't want to talk about that, [7:06] because I think we're getting pretty close. [7:07] Yes, please. [7:08] May I ask the President of Ukraine about, [7:09] yes, about territorial question? [7:11] Mr. President, what is your take on Donbas status? [7:14] Are you prepared to see it as a free economic or demilitarized zone? [7:18] No, we spoke about 20 points planned, [7:20] and I'm happy that really our team is very close to results. [7:25] And I agree with President Trump that they, [7:27] our teams worked not one day, not one week, [7:31] more than one month, beginning from Geneva, [7:34] then two meetings in Miami, then we had Berlin, [7:37] and now we have Mar-a-Lago. [7:39] So this is a very difficult question. [7:42] You know our position. [7:43] So it's, I mean, we have to respect our law and our people, [7:47] and we respect the territory which we control. [7:50] And, of course, our attitude is very clear. [7:53] That's why President Trump said this is a very tough question. [7:57] And, of course, we have with Russians different positions on it. [8:00] And have you discussed referendum about all this? [8:03] When we speak about referendum, we spoke that it's one of the key. [8:06] We can have referendum on any kind of points of this plan. [8:11] I said that we can use referendum, like, for the plan, [8:14] or we cannot use referendum. [8:16] It's one of the key. [8:17] We can use, I mean, this possibility of parliament to vote according to the law [8:21] or to have referendum. [8:23] It doesn't matter. [8:24] It's, I mean, this referendum, if the plan will be very difficult for our society, [8:28] very difficult, of course, our society has to choose and has to vote [8:33] because it's their land, the land not of one person. [8:37] It's the land of our nation for a lot of generations. [8:41] Mr. President Trump, they'll probably have to get their plan approved by parliament [8:44] or by referendum of the people. [8:46] You would think that they want, I know they had a poll that [8:50] it's 91 percent in favor of ending this war, so they want to end it. [8:54] Like everybody wants. [8:55] Russia wants it ended. [8:56] Everybody wants it ended. [8:57] So, and we want it ended. [8:58] I want it ended because I don't want to see so many people dying. [9:01] We're losing, you know, massive numbers of people. [9:05] The biggest, by far, since World War II. [9:07] So we want to see it ended, absolutely. [9:10] Yes. [9:11] The President, you said at the top that you plan to speak again tomorrow. [9:14] Is that correct? [9:17] I might. [9:18] I mean, it depends on what happens tomorrow. [9:19] If there's an additional something to add. [9:21] Otherwise, there's no reason to. [9:22] We're in the process. [9:24] Jared and Steve are working very hard to get something done. [9:28] And if there's something that comes up, I'd speak. [9:30] But otherwise, I don't think there's any reason to. [9:33] Could be. [9:34] In your mind, sir, what are the thorniest issues still unresolved after that? [9:37] Well, I think the land you're talking about. [9:40] Some of that land has been taken. [9:42] Some of that land is maybe up for grabs. [9:45] But it may be taken over the next period of a number of months. [9:51] And you're better off making a deal now. [9:53] Look, let me tell you, they have been very brave. [9:55] They fought very hard and continue to fight very hard. [9:59] And do tremendous damage. [10:01] But Russia would like to see it ended. [10:04] Ukraine would like to see it. [10:06] And I think it's time to end. [10:08] And a lot of very brave people. [10:10] A lot of people that are dead right now, unfortunately. [10:13] Because I've said, and nobody's disputed it, [10:15] that if the election weren't rigged and stolen in 2020, [10:20] you wouldn't have had this war. [10:21] It would have never happened. [10:22] And it didn't happen for four years. [10:23] Never was even thought to happen. [10:28] And I spoke with President Putin. [10:30] I got along with him very well. [10:31] Despite the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, [10:33] which was a total hoax. [10:34] He used to say, what is going on over there? [10:37] But it was a total hoax, as he knew and as I knew. [10:40] But I spoke to him. [10:41] And we'd talk about Ukraine. [10:43] I've said it before. [10:44] It was the apple of his eye. [10:46] But he wasn't going to do anything about it. [10:47] He didn't do anything about it until I was gone. [10:50] And then a lot of really bad statements were made by people. [10:54] By a lot of people, I guess. [10:57] But by a certain President that we had, who was a disaster. [11:02] Yes. [11:03] The Press Press.: Mr. President, do you anticipate going to Ukraine [11:05] if you can get to an agreement? [11:07] And I know you said earlier. [11:08] The President, I have no problem with doing it. [11:10] You know, I have no problem with doing it. [11:11] And we don't anticipate it. [11:13] Would like to get the deal done and not necessarily have to go. [11:18] I've offered to go and speak to their parliament. [11:20] And, you know, if that would help, I don't know if that would help. [11:24] I think it would probably help. [11:25] But I don't even know if that's. [11:27] The President, you're welcome. [11:28] The President, always. [11:29] The President, so I'm not sure that it would be really necessary. [11:32] But if it would help save 25,000 lives a month, [11:36] or whatever it may be, I would certainly be willing to do that. [11:39] Yeah, please. [11:45] Oh, behind you? [11:46] Are you — where are you from? [11:47] From Ukraine. [11:48] The President, good. [11:49] I had a feeling. [11:50] And how about the Parisian nuclear plant? [11:52] Have you discussed this question? [11:53] When what? [11:54] It's a bridge on nuclear plant. [11:56] Yeah, we discussed that at length today. [11:59] As you know, it's in pretty good shape. [12:02] It can start up immediately, almost immediately. [12:04] And it's one of the things I discussed with President Putin. [12:08] And they were talking about the nuclear plant. [12:11] That's probably the biggest in the world, just about the biggest anywhere in the world. [12:15] Can you believe that? [12:17] And President Putin is actually working with Ukraine on getting it open. [12:21] He's been very good in that sense. [12:23] He wants to see that open. [12:27] And he hasn't hit it with missiles, hasn't hit it with anything. [12:31] It's a big danger to do that for everybody. [12:33] But they're working together to try and get it. [12:36] It can open very quickly. [12:38] It's in pretty good shape. [12:39] And the people there have been there for years. [12:41] The people there running it. [12:43] You know, they have 5,000 people in that plant. [12:45] Can you believe it? [12:46] I learned that today. [12:47] 5,000 people. [12:48] It's the biggest plant of its kind in the world. [12:50] And they're working together to get it opened. [12:53] They could maybe get it opened quickly. [12:55] That's a big step when he's not bombing that plant. [12:59] That's a big step. [13:00] The Press, in the readout from Moscow, they talked about the creation of some working groups. [13:07] Yes. [13:08] Can you tell us about what those working groups would entail? [13:10] Sure. [13:11] And also, if you wouldn't mind, what is the message that you will give to Putin when you speak to him after your meeting here? [13:18] So the working group is going to be composed of Steve, Steve Woodcoff, Jared Kushner, General Raisin Cane, Marco Rubio, and a few other people that we're going to be putting onto it. [13:32] I think Pete Hegseth should be in that working group. [13:36] He knows the territory very well. [13:38] He's been fantastic at what he's doing. [13:40] And they may add one or two people. [13:42] And likewise, Ukraine is going to have some very good people that were at lunch today that enjoyed the lunch today a lot more than they thought. [13:49] Right? [13:51] Do you want to say who may be on your working group? [13:53] Yeah. [13:54] We now, as I said, that we work with Steve and Jared. [13:59] We worked and worked our and also Deputy Minister and also General Gnatov. [14:08] And they will continue work in this group. [14:12] And, of course, if we will go further, and I hope that really we will have decisions in January, as I said, about all these documents, six documents. [14:20] And, of course, we will continue work on this so they know what to do. [14:26] Yes. [14:27] And that working group, by the way, importantly, will also then be working with Russia. [14:32] Okay? [14:33] Because to work with ourselves doesn't really solve much of a problem. [14:37] So they'll be working with Russia. [14:39] Yeah, please. [14:40] Mr. President, you said this morning you weren't a deadline guy. [14:42] How long do you think it'll take to get this last little bit, as you say, finished? [14:45] What are we talking about? [14:46] So if it went really well, you know, maybe a few weeks. [14:49] And if it went poorly longer, and if it went really poorly, it's not going to happen. [14:53] That would be a shame. [14:55] There's that chance also. [14:56] You know, it's possible it doesn't happen. [14:58] But, you know, in a few weeks we will know one way or the other, I think. [15:04] But if it went really well, but it could also go poorly. [15:10] I mean, you know, we could have something where one item that you're not thinking about is a big item, breaks it up. [15:16] Look, it's been a very difficult negotiation. [15:18] Very detailed. [15:19] It's funny. [15:20] I settled eight wars. [15:21] Some were going on for 35 years. [15:24] And we got them settled in a couple of days. [15:27] Some of them, one was going on for 37 years. [15:31] I settled in one day. [15:32] But this is a very complex one. [15:34] What, the battle? [15:36] No, I think we'll get it done. [15:38] I don't want to say when, but I think we're going to get it done. [15:41] Yes, ma'am. [15:42] Mr. President, you in the past have suggested a trilateral meeting between both President Putin and Zelensky. [15:46] Right. [15:47] Is that something that is also on the docket? [15:49] I see that happening, sure, at the right time. [15:52] I saw a very interesting President Putin today. [15:57] I mean, he wants to see it happen. [16:00] He wants to see it. [16:01] He told me very strongly. [16:03] I believe him. [16:05] Don't forget, we went through the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax together. [16:08] And he'd call me. [16:10] I'd call him. [16:11] I'd say, can you believe the stuff that they're making up? [16:13] And it turned out we were right. [16:14] They made it all up. [16:15] And despite that, we didn't get into wars or we didn't get into problems. [16:19] But we weren't able to trade very much or any of that, which was a shame because, you know, a lot of success could have been had by trading with Russia. [16:28] They have great land, great minerals and other things. [16:31] And we have things that they want very badly. [16:34] But the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, which was a terrible made-up fictional thing by Crooked Hillary and by Adam Schiffy Schiff and bad people, sick people. [16:45] They made it up. [16:46] It was all a made-up hoax. [16:48] But it kept us really from dealing with Russia. [16:51] It kept Russia dealing, you know, from dealing with us. [16:54] But despite that, we got along. [16:58] And I don't know. [17:00] I think we're going to get there. [17:01] I know him very well. [17:02] I think we're going to get there. [17:04] Did you discuss any time, location, meeting place? [17:07] Yeah, we're discussing a lot of things. [17:09] No, we — look, I was on the phone with him for almost, I guess, two and a half hours, they're just telling me now. [17:14] That's a long time. [17:15] We discussed a lot of things. [17:16] We didn't talk about the weather. [17:18] We weren't talking about how — what a beautiful day it is in Palm Beach, Florida. [17:22] Yes. [17:23] President Trump, President Zelenskyy mentioned maybe a meeting with European leaders back in Washington. [17:27] Would that be in the next few weeks? [17:29] Well, in Washington or someplace, yeah. [17:31] These leaders that I just read, these are great people. [17:34] You know, they've spent a lot of money on helping Ukraine. [17:38] And look, they're doing it for themselves also, meaning their country, because Ukraine's a very important country for them in particular. [17:46] For us, it's very important. [17:49] To me, it's the lives. [17:50] You know, we're thousands and thousands of miles. [17:53] We're protected by a thing called the Atlantic Ocean and lots of other places, to be honest. [17:59] And they're not. [18:00] You know, they're right there. [18:01] But we're working together with them, as we should be. [18:04] But I'm doing it to save lives. [18:06] You know, we're not spending any money. [18:08] Biden gave $350 billion away. [18:10] And the President was nice enough to give us a contract to take out rare earth and things. [18:15] So we'll see how that all works out. [18:17] We have a contract. [18:18] But we appreciated that. [18:21] It was very good. [18:23] But we'll see how that works out. [18:25] But if you think about it, we're going to have — I really believe we're probably, Mr. President, closer than — by far closer than ever before with both parties. [18:35] We had some times when he was close and President Putin wasn't. [18:39] Then we'd have President Putin was close and he wasn't. [18:42] You saw that in the White House. [18:45] But I think they both want to see it happen. [18:49] Mr. President, in your conversation with — [18:51] You're saying that — you've said multiple times that you want to stop the killing. [18:55] And nearly 100 American citizens died in Ukraine on the battlefield. [18:59] What's your message to their families whose loved ones died fighting for Ukraine? [19:04] Well, look, I mean, the message is so obvious. [19:07] It's — what a shame. [19:10] They died in a country — a foreign country. [19:13] And some are celebrated people. [19:15] They're very celebrated. [19:17] But so sad that a thing like that would happen. [19:20] Yes, ma'am. [19:21] Mr. President Trump, obviously, security is a major issue for the Ukrainians. [19:25] Right. [19:26] Did you offer any promises, any assurances today? [19:28] No, I did. [19:29] I did. [19:30] We want to work with Europe. [19:31] And Europe is going to take over a big part of it, as you can imagine. [19:35] You know, they're right there. [19:36] But we're going to help Europe 100 percent. [19:38] Like they'd help us. [19:39] Yes, ma'am. [19:40] You want to say something? [19:41] Yeah, I was just going to ask. [19:42] When your conversation — [19:43] Who you with? [19:44] Andrei Oshala with Reuters. [19:45] That's what I thought. [19:46] Yeah. [19:47] So in your conversation with President Putin, did you discuss what responsibility [19:50] Russia will have for any kind of reconstruction of Ukraine post an agreement? [19:54] I did. [19:55] They're going to be helping. [19:57] Russia is going to be helping. [19:58] Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed. [20:00] Once — it sounds a little strange, but I was explaining to the President — President [20:07] Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying [20:14] energy, electricity, and other things at very low prices. [20:19] So a lot of good things came out of that call today. [20:22] But they were in the works for two weeks with Steve and with Jared and Marco and everybody. [20:26] Did Russia agree or did Putin agree to a ceasefire to allow a referendum to take — [20:33] Not a ceasefire. [20:34] And that's one of the points that we're working on right now. [20:37] No, not a ceasefire. [20:38] He feels that, look, you know, they're fighting to stop and then to — if they have to start [20:43] again, which is a possibility. [20:44] He doesn't want to be in that position. [20:46] And I understand that position. [20:47] The President feels strongly about that or something. [20:53] But I think we're finding ways that we can get around that. [20:56] But I understand President Putin from that standpoint. [20:58] You know, you have to understand the other side. [21:00] And, you know, I'm on the side of peace. [21:04] I'm on the side of stopping the war. [21:06] So — but I think that's — that's a problem that's going to get solved. [21:10] The Press. [21:11] The Press. [21:12] The Press. [21:13] The Press. [21:14] Would people who live outside of Ukrainians who fled during the war be allowed to participate [21:17] in the referendum? [21:18] The President. [21:19] What do you mean people where live? [21:20] The Press. [21:21] The People that live? [21:22] The Press. [21:23] You know, the refugees who fled to Poland and Germany — [21:24] The President. [21:25] The Press. [21:26] The President. [21:27] You know, if we speak about that, people who are abroad who are not on the territory of [21:28] Ukraine — — [21:29] Right. [21:30] — mean that — in Poland, in Germany we have millions of people. [21:31] Yeah, they have a referendum in the same of elections, the same way how people come and [21:38] vote. [21:39] They have rights for this. [21:40] And of course they have to come. [21:41] That's why if we will come to referendum, yes, if we will come to such decision, people [21:46] need infrastructure for this. [21:49] And it's not simple. [21:50] And that's why we spoke about it. [21:52] It can't be in one day, very quickly. [21:54] It's difficult because we need infrastructure. [21:56] When you have millions of people, you have to build it in Europe, mostly in Europe for [22:00] today. [22:03] And I know you've signed an optimistic note here, but what happens in a few weeks [22:07] if things sputter? [22:09] What are you prepared to do? [22:10] The President Biden and they keep dying. [22:12] No good. [22:15] But if things don't happen, they keep fighting and they keep dying. [22:20] And we don't want that to happen. [22:21] He doesn't want it to happen. [22:22] President Putin doesn't want it to happen either. [22:25] Okay? [22:26] Thank you very much, everybody. [22:27] Appreciate it. [22:28] Great. [22:29] Thank you, sir. [22:31] Thank you. [22:32] And thanks for lunch. [22:34] I don't know. [22:35] Was it a good lunch? [22:36] Yes, sir. [22:37] He walked in, he said, this place is gorgeous. [22:37] I don't think he wants to go to the White House anymore. [22:40] That's the problem. [22:41] I'm ready to go to the White House. [22:43] I know. [22:44] It is. [22:45] It is. [22:46] The White House is a very special place. [22:48] And so is this. [22:49] I hope you enjoyed it. [22:50] Thank you very much. [22:51] Thank you, sir. [22:52] Thank you, sir. [22:53] Thank you very much. [22:58] Thank you. [22:59] Thank you very much. [23:01] Thank you. [23:02] Thank you.