U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during their meeting on Friday that he should accept Russia’s core demands for ending the war, or risk Ukraine’s “destruction.”
According to a report published by the Financial Times (FT), Trump relayed a direct warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, given during their October 16 phone call. The message, which Trump is said to have repeated verbatim, urged Zelensky to concede full control of the Donbas region—including territories still under Ukrainian control—and to formally recognize Crimea as Russian territory.
The two-and-a-half-hour meeting at the White House reportedly became heated, with multiple officials describing it to the FT as devolving into a “skirmish” or “shouting match.” Sources said Trump grew increasingly frustrated as Zelensky presented battlefield maps and proposed plans for renewed Ukrainian offensives, including long-range strikes inside Russia. Trump rejected these ideas outright, along with Zelensky’s request for Tomahawk cruise missiles. At one point, witnesses said Trump swept the maps off the table while swearing profusely.
According to officials familiar with the meeting, Zelensky left “visibly shaken” after Trump abruptly ended the talks and boarded Marine One to depart for Florida. Trump did not take questions from the press before his departure.
Zelensky reportedly told aides afterward that he reaffirmed Ukraine’s refusal to cede any territory to Russia, echoing the same position that led to his public shouting match with Trump in February. The meeting further strained the already tense relationship between the two leaders and cast additional doubt on U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
Trump is expected to meet Putin in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks—their second summit this year—where Putin will likely press his case that Russia’s terms are “reasonable” and urge Trump to either pressure Zelensky into accepting them or halt U.S. military aid altogether to allow for a U.S.-Russia reproachment that would not be tied to a Ukraine war settlement.