Zelensky describes 'good meeting' with Trump

[0:00] Well, major world leaders are attending the late Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral. [0:04] This includes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. [0:09] Zelensky met with President Trump at the White House this morning. [0:13] He has accused Russia of providing Iran with intelligence on U.S. military bases. [0:18] On Monday, President Trump downplayed those claims, [0:20] though the issue likely came back up in his meeting with Zelensky. [0:25] Let's discuss all of this with Nick Payton Walsh, live from London. [0:28] One would guess, Nick, that this was a much more cordial and friendly meeting [0:34] than the one we saw about 15 months ago during Trump's first or second month in office [0:39] when President Zelensky was berated in the Oval Office. [0:43] Now you have President Zelensky coming in, being an innovator that the world really is championing [0:49] when it comes to drone technology, modern warfare. [0:52] At the same time, there's a lot of vulnerability militarily. [0:56] He had a change in leadership that led to mass protests on the streets [1:01] and still the need for missile defense programs. [1:05] Just talk about what his asks are going into this meeting. [1:11] Yeah, I don't know what we should read into the fact that this was a closed meeting. [1:15] Maybe it's two men who felt comfortable enough in each other's presence in the agenda [1:19] that the president didn't feel the need to grandstand or broadcast any messages from it. [1:24] Maybe there is some potential progress here in terms of the deal that Ukraine urgently needs to have [1:30] to get the interceptor patriot technology that could potentially hold off what is recent nights [1:35] been a record number of Russian ballistic missiles fired at it. [1:39] Clearly, the readout from the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, [1:42] is that the interceptors was high on the agenda and that he brought with him some ideas that might potentially help. [1:49] Look, it's a huge leap from the conceptual agreement we saw around the NATO meeting in Ankara [1:55] where President Trump said, look, you can have the licenses. [1:58] Really, one of the biggest concessions in terms of military technology the U.S. could have offered [2:01] to a country here a year ago. [2:03] They were berating for bringing nothing to the table, for having no cards, [2:07] to actually taking that concept and materializing it on the ground in Ukraine [2:11] by mass production of these interceptors. [2:14] That's a big ask, and Zelensky said he'd like to see it up and running by the end of the year, [2:18] but there's a lot of work, certainly, indeed, to do. [2:21] But it's urgent and desperately needs to occur. [2:23] There were suggestions, too, from President Zelensky that diplomacy was back on the table as well. [2:28] Look, that's not just stalled. [2:30] I mean, it was, frankly, some said, you know, kind of do not resuscitate for much of the period of time [2:36] during the Alaska meetings where the Russians had specific goals the Ukrainians would never really latch onto, [2:41] but they ultimately had to play along with it to keep the White House happy. [2:44] It's certainly gone more than in a pause now. [2:46] The Europeans, briefly, it seemed trying to start something up. [2:50] There were suggestions they might be looking for some sort of process independently. [2:54] Even, indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin floating the former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder [2:59] as a potential mediator in all of this. [3:01] That's still stalled. [3:02] But as you point out, the picture is not entirely rosy for Ukraine at this point. [3:07] They have got extraordinary positive headlines through their long-range drone strikes inside of Russia, [3:13] causing fuel queues, damage to refineries, damage to Russia's equivalent of Amazon, [3:17] really bringing the war home to Russia and, indeed, killing Russian civilians, it seems, during those strikes as well. [3:24] That sea change, though, doesn't remove the broader structural issues Ukraine has. [3:29] You talked about turmoil in the Cabinet and the military command. [3:32] Well, the new leaders have to deal with the issue of manpower and mobilisation. [3:36] They have to deal with the cash crunch they've faced. [3:39] They've got European money coming in now, but it doesn't suddenly make things infinitely rosy overnight. [3:45] And on the other side, too, the pendulum may well slowly swing back towards Russia's favour here. [3:52] Many believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin has to launch some kind of mobilisation [3:56] in the coming months after elections in Russia. [3:59] President Zelensky's hammered that point home. [4:01] Zelensky's also talked about 30,000 North Korean troops, he claims, are on their way to the war as well. [4:08] And we have winter coming, where in the past we've seen Russia's air power launch devastating strikes [4:13] on Ukrainian infrastructure. [4:15] Frozen winters, too. [4:17] Part of the Cabinet reshuffle in Ukraine has been to put a new prime minister [4:21] in who can potentially make the winter less freezing and horrific. [4:23] It is possible in the months ahead, Russia regroups, begins to reclaim the narrative partially, [4:30] despite the extraordinary issues Putin's currently having to weather at the moment. [4:34] But I think in this meeting between Zelensky and Trump, [4:37] Zelensky will want to see the practical realisation of this promise of patriots now, [4:42] not in months ahead, urgent actions. [4:45] They can get this indeed going. [4:47] But make no mistake, the relationship between these two men certainly has changed. [4:51] But it may be because Trump senses Ukraine is a winner. [4:54] When that stops, does it change back again? [4:57] Yeah, he definitely has lauded some of the military gains and accomplishments [5:01] that Ukraine has amassed over the past few months. [5:04] Nick, how much should we read into this intelligence that President Zelensky [5:10] reportedly shared with President Trump about Russia's involvement and aid to Iran in the war there? [5:16] I mean, look, this is clearly Ukraine positioning itself on the side of the Americans [5:24] in their sprawling, complex conflicts with Iran, [5:29] basically saying we're the kind of NATO ally you wished NATO would have been. [5:32] Remember Trump's anger towards the real members of NATO for not joining wholesale his attack on Iran [5:39] or assisting in the Strait of Hormuz. [5:40] Ukraine doesn't have the extra bandwidth here to genuinely start another war with Iran. [5:45] But also remember Iran has been on Russia's side since the start, [5:49] supplying the Shahid cheap drones that have wrecked ahead across the Gulf [5:53] but were earlier being tested and tried against Ukraine by Russia [5:57] and are now built by Russia en masse. [5:59] So Iran's been in this war for some time, ultimately, though not on the front lines. [6:04] And I think the moment and the timing Zelensky seized upon by hitting an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea [6:10] that he said was bringing assistance to Russia, effectively making it, in Ukraine's eyes, a legitimate target, [6:17] was to say to Trump, look, we understand the bind you're in, that Iran is a problem, [6:22] and we also want to hit them too. [6:24] Zelensky's also said that the Iranians have been sharing top-end, [6:27] sorry, the Russians have been sharing top-end satellite imagery with the Iranians [6:32] to assist targeting of Americans in the Gulf. [6:34] That matches CNN reporting in the past, and indeed we've talked about how the Russians have been sharing [6:38] advanced drone tactics too with the Iranians. [6:41] That relationship, clear, and I think it's the choice of Ukraine right now to emphasise it [6:47] and to try and suggest to Trump that they are an ally that brings cards to the table. [6:52] Remember that comment last year that Ukraine indeed had no cards. [6:56] Well, now we see the United States sniffing around Ukrainian frontline drone technology [7:00] to see what could potentially benefit them, seeing the Ukrainians on their feet again [7:05] and potentially inflicting real damage on Russia. [7:07] As I say, though, look, you know, Trump is not just fickle. [7:10] You know, he vacillates exceptionally quickly on this particular issue, [7:14] and so we have to see if this newfound cosiness, perhaps, between Trump and Zelensky [7:19] or indeed between the US and Ukraine or the MAGA Republican part of the United States and Ukraine, [7:24] if that sustains or if it takes a few more phone calls from the Kremlin to President Trump [7:30] to have him sounding more and more like someone familiar with Russia's talking points [7:35] in the coming months ahead. [7:36] Yeah, thus far, President Trump, at least publicly, has still been reluctant, [7:40] despite all of this intelligence and reporting about how much Russia has been assisting the Iranians [7:45] to confront Vladimir Putin publicly. [7:47] He says that he's been downplaying it and says that he will address it the next time the two men speak. [7:53] Nick Payton-Walsh, thank you so much for that very comprehensive breakdown. [7:57] Really appreciate it. [7:58] The Zelensky meeting happened earlier today. [8:00] We have not heard a readout from the president yet. [8:02] This is what Zelensky himself put on X. [8:05] He said a good meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office. [8:08] Thank you for everything we do together to protect the lives of Ukrainians. [8:12] He said they discussed licenses for patriot interceptor production, several other ideas. [8:16] They talk about diplomacy and saying the diplomatic process should be reinvigorated. [8:22] And this is what Trump said last night on Air Force One about Ukraine. [8:27] We have a lot of ammunition, different types. [8:31] You know, Biden gave a lot to Ukraine. [8:34] And so we're building that up. [8:35] But we have a lot. [8:37] We have a lot of the mid-level stuff, too. [8:39] I mean, more than we could ever use, no matter what. [8:42] But we have a lot. [8:43] I'd like to have more, to be honest. [8:46] But so much was given to Ukraine by Biden. [8:49] But look, there's also, they've gotten so much criticism because there's tens of millions [8:53] of dollars that have been approved by Congress, signed into law, that have not been spent [8:58] to give to Ukraine by this administration. [9:01] Also interesting that he says, I'd like to have more. [9:04] That's Donald Trump's way of saying, I don't want to confirm the reporting in the New York [9:10] Times or elsewhere. [9:11] But yeah, we could use a few more. [9:13] Yeah. [9:13] So I thought that was interesting. [9:14] And with Lindsey Graham gone, is there someone who can draw Trump towards the Ukrainian line? [9:20] You know, because Trump, of course, has been waffling on this issue for quite some time. [9:24] One of the interesting developments over the last few weeks, and you're talking about [9:29] polling that shows the divide among MAGA and non-MAGA GOP, though I think that line is [9:34] blurring a little bit, is there are voices in the MAGA, most prominent MAGA voices like [9:41] Laura Loomer, who are increasingly becoming more pro-Ukrainian than they were earlier. [9:47] We saw Laura Loomer travel to Kyiv and interview and meet with Zelensky. [9:52] So it's unclear exactly who's going to fill that void, if there's anyone that has the [9:57] sort of stature in the Senate and the relationship with Trump to be the sort of effective advocate [10:02] for these foreign policy issues that Lindsey Graham was. [10:06] But it is interesting to see how the coalition is changing in recent weeks as it relates to [10:10] to the war in Ukraine. [10:11] Yeah, so interesting, the shift among the GOP, the MAGA GOP. [10:14] Ukraine up, Israel down. [10:16] We'll see if that balance shifts at all. [10:18] How different are the circumstances? [10:20] Are you seeing, viewing, and hearing, and the relationship between Trump and Zelensky now [10:26] versus what we've seen between those two men in the past? [10:30] Well, it's definitely warmed up. [10:31] And President Zelensky is coming in with the backdrop of winning on the battlefield. [10:38] At least that is the perception worldwide, that Ukraine is really getting some traction, [10:43] especially the way it is menacing Moscow and St. Petersburg. [10:49] President Putin just had a Navy Day parade yesterday, which was just 40 sailors in front [10:56] of a big mural of a submarine. [10:58] Whereas in the past, it was several, you know, dozens of ships, submarines, thousands of troops. [11:05] But two years in a row, they've had to cancel that because of the drone threat from the Ukrainians. [11:09] So that is the kind of thing that makes Zelensky look like he's winning to Trump. [11:14] And Zelensky is also bringing intelligence to back up his claims over the weekend that Russia [11:20] is sharing satellite imagery with Iran to help Iran strike U.S. targets in the Gulf. [11:27] Which is why, David, all of these meetings are really wrapped up into one thing and very much connected.