Photo: EPA
US President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit, praising the Ukrainian leader and expressing optimism about the prospects for ending the war.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Trump said Zelenskyy was doing “a great job.”
“He’s very effective. And you have excellent equipment because you’re using our equipment... You also have many brave people who are using it,” Trump said.
Commenting on the war, Trump claimed that around 25,000 people are killed every month, adding that most of the casualties are Russian. He also said he believes both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin want to bring the conflict to an end.
To illustrate his view, Trump used an analogy:
“It’s like two kids in a park who don’t like each other and start fighting. Sometimes you have to let them fight so they realize how hard fighting really is.”
Meanwhile, The Washington Post recently reported that Ukraine is facing a critical shortage of interceptor missiles for its Patriot air defense systems, while Russia has intensified its use of ballistic missiles.
According to the report, some Western allies could transfer additional Patriot interceptors to Ukraine if the United States guaranteed that their own stockpiles would be replenished.
