Donald Trump urged Zelensky to accept Putin’s terms to end their war or risk ‘destroying’ Ukraine in ‘shouting match’ White House meeting

Donald Trump urged Volodymyr Zelenksy to accept Putin’s terms for ending its two-year-long war in an explosive meeting at the White House on Friday.

Ukraine’s president travelled to Washington this week to push for more military support  at a time when Kyiv and Moscow are escalating the war with massive attacks on energy systems.

But Trump and Zelensky’s meeting on Friday turned sour after the two leaders got into a ‘screaming match’, according to the Financial Times, who cited sources close to the matter. 

The US president reportedly threw aside maps of Ukraine’s frontline and insisted Zekelensky surrender the entire Donbas region to Putin.

Trump also told Zelensky that ‘[Putin] will destroy you’, if he doesn’t concede to his terms, according to reports. 

The exchange was reminiscent of a similarly tense encounter in the Oval Office in February, in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky. 

The heated meeting on Friday came as Zelensky delivered a pointed rebuke to Trumps’ assessment of the war in Ukraine on Friday after the US president expressed confidence a resolution was in sight and that Putin was ready to make peace. 

But Zelensky insisted that ‘Putin doesn’t want peace.’

Trump welcomes Zelensky at the White House on Friday, October 17

‘That’s why we need pressure on him,’ he said.

Donald Trump advised Volodymyr Zelenksy to accept Putin’s terms for ending its two-year-long war

Trump on Friday also refused Ukraine’s demands for Tomahawk missiles in a tense meeting in Washington between the US president and Zelensky.

Trump expressed hopes to resolve the war ‘without thinking about Tomahawks’.

‘We need Tomahawks. One reason we want this war over is because it’s not easy for us to keep sending massive weapons,’ he said, citing the need to preserve US military readiness.

In response, Zelensky proposed a mutual production deal: US missiles for Ukrainian drones — a capability-sharing agreement to strengthen both countries’ defence industries.

Trump hinted at a potential peace summit hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, bringing Zelensky and Putin together. 

He acknowledged the personal animosity between the wartime leaders but expressed confidence that diplomacy could prevail.

Trump speaks with Zelensky at the White House in Washington on Friday 

Trump hosted President Zelensky for a bilateral lunch in the Cabinet Room in hopes of advancing a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine

The meeting came just one day after Trump agreed to a second sit-down with Putin in Hungary, with the White House playing up the Russian president’s flattery.

Trump on Friday also called on Kyiv and Moscow to ‘stop where they are’ and end their brutal war following his meeting with Zelensky.

‘Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts,’ Trump said in a Truth Social post not long after hosting Zelensky and his team for more than two hours of talks. 

‘They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!’

Trump’s comments amounted to another shift in position on the war by Trump. 

In recent weeks, he had shown growing impatience with Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the war.

After meeting with Zelensky in New York on the side-lines of the annual U.N. General Assembly last month, Trump even said he believed the Ukrainians could win back all the the territory they had lost to Russia since Putin launched the February 2022 invasion.

That was a dramatic shift for Trump, who had previously insisted that Kyiv would have to concede land lost to Russia to end the war.

Zelensky after Friday’s meeting said it was time for a ceasefire and negotiations. He sidestepped directly answering a question about Trump nudging Ukraine to give up land.

‘The president is right we have to stop where we are, and then to speak,’ Zelensky said when asked by reporters about Trump’s social media post, which he hadn’t seen.