--- title: Face to Face With Zelensky, Trump Waffles on Tomahawk Sale description: Days after publicly floating the idea, President Donald Trump on Friday backed off giving powerful long-range weapons to Ukraine canonical: https://time.com/7326698/trump-zelensky-ukraine-tomahawk-missiles/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-17T18:31:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-10-17T21:35:50.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Face to Face With Zelensky, Trump Waffles on Missile Sale og:description: Days after publicly floating the idea, President Donald Trump on Friday backed off giving powerful long-range weapons to Ukraine og:url: https://time.com/7326698/trump-zelensky-ukraine-tomahawk-missiles/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd5c40b9d23da66d/6998cad9e1ba001f4898e07e/GettyImages-2241234245.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Zelenskiy Readies List Of Promises To Win Over Trump On Weapons og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Face to Face With Zelensky, Trump Waffles on Missile Sale twitter:description: Days after publicly floating the idea, President Donald Trump on Friday backed off giving powerful long-range weapons to Ukraine twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd5c40b9d23da66d/6998cad9e1ba001f4898e07e/GettyImages-2241234245.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 04:20 video:published: 2025-10-17 section: politics topics: Trump and Zelenskyy meeting, Russia-Ukraine war, Tomahawk missiles, Putin phone call, ceasefire, security guarantees, NATO, drones, weapons supplies, Middle East ceasefire, peace negotiations genre: news, diplomacy tones: serious, diplomatic, cordial, urgent emotions: determination (high), concern (medium), optimism (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: news followers, foreign policy readers, defense analysts, general public people: Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin organizations: NATO, European Union, United States, Ukraine, Russia products: Tomahawk missiles, drones content_suitability: war [00:19-04:20]; politics [00:00-04:20] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Face to Face With Zelensky, Trump Waffles on Providing Tomahawk Missiles > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=8f5dbdca-0779-4ecc-b05b-6562c0fcac62&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Face to Face With Zelensky, Trump Waffles on Providing Tomahawk Missiles [Watch (HLS stream): Face to Face With Zelensky, Trump Waffles on Providing Tomahawk Missiles](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KE22me6x.m3u8) (4:20)  _Published 2025-10-17. The U.S.-made missiles, described by Trump as “vicious, offensive, incredibly destructive", can strike targets at least 1,550 miles away and are capable of bypassing heavily defended airspace. Should Trump approve the sale of the highly sophisticated weaponry to Zelensky, military targets in Russia’s two major cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, would be well within range for Ukraine._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video shows opening remarks from a meeting between President Trump and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Trump refers to a call with President Putin the day before and says progress is being made. Zelenskyy says Putin is not ready for peace, calls for a ceasefire, pressure on Putin and security guarantees, and says Ukraine needs Tomahawks and drones. Trump says the U.S. also needs Tomahawks and hopes the war ends without them being needed. ## Key points - Trump says he had a big call with President Putin the day before and that the two leaders would discuss it. (00:11) - Zelenskyy says Putin is not ready to end the war, but he is confident the war can be stopped with Trump's help. (00:57) - Zelenskyy says Russia has no successful steps on the battlefield, a weak army, and heavy losses in people and economy. (01:13) - Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready for bilateral or trilateral talks, wants a ceasefire, and says pressure is needed to push Putin to the negotiating table. (01:36) - Zelenskyy names strong security guarantees as the most important thing, with NATO best and a bilateral guarantee with Trump described as the most important document. (02:17) - Trump says the U.S. needs Tomahawks itself and that sending massive numbers of powerful weapons to Ukraine is not easy; weapons now go to the European Union, which pays. (02:52) - Zelenskyy says targeting a military goal takes thousands of drones alongside missiles, and that Ukraine could supply drones to the U.S. to strengthen American production. (03:38) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:44] Trump opens, cites Putin call. Trump welcomes Zelenskyy, praises him, and mentions the previous day's call with Putin and progress toward ending the war. - [00:44 to 01:29] Zelenskyy on Putin and Russian weakness. Zelenskyy thanks Trump, congratulates him on the Middle East ceasefire, and says Putin is not ready while Russia's army is weak. - [01:29 to 02:17] Ceasefire and pressure on Putin. After a brief exchange about a jacket, Zelenskyy calls for talks, a ceasefire and pressure to bring Putin to negotiations. - [02:17 to 02:52] Security guarantees for Ukraine. Zelenskyy stresses security guarantees, NATO, weapons, allies and a bilateral document with Trump. - [02:52 to 03:38] Trump on Tomahawks and weapon supplies. Trump says the U.S. needs Tomahawks and describes how weapons are sent to the European Union, hoping the war ends first. - [03:38 to 04:20] Zelenskyy on drones and cooperation. Zelenskyy says Tomahawks must be paired with thousands of drones and proposes joint work to strengthen American production. ## Key quotes - [00:53] Zelenskyy: "And I think this is a momentum to finish Russia's war against Ukraine." - [01:51] Zelenskyy: "We want peace. Putin doesn't want." - [02:52] Trump: "Well, that's that's a problem." - [03:15] Trump: "You know, we need tomahawks, and we need a lot of other weapons that we're sending to Ukraine." - [03:40] Zelenskyy: "Of course we want to finish this war, but the war is another technological war." - [03:57] Zelenskyy: "But we don't have tomahawks. That's why we need tomahawks." ## Questions this video answers - What did Trump say about his call with Putin? [00:11] - What does Zelenskyy say about the state of Russia's army and economy? [01:13] - What does Zelenskyy want to push Putin toward negotiations? [01:36] - What security guarantees does Zelenskyy say Ukraine needs? [02:17] - What does Trump say about the U.S. need for Tomahawks and weapon shipments to Ukraine? [02:52] - Why does Zelenskyy say drones are needed along with missiles? [03:38] ## Content suitability - war [00:19-04:20]: Discussion of the Russia-Ukraine war, battlefield losses, attacks on Ukrainians, and weapons including Tomahawk missiles and drones. - politics [00:00-04:20]: Meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents covering peace negotiations, Putin, security guarantees and military aid.  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Oct 17, 2025 9:35 PM UTCPublished: Oct 17, 2025 6:31 PM UTC The U.S.-made missiles, described by Trump as “vicious, offensive, incredibly destructive", can strike targets at least 1,550 miles away and are capable of bypassing heavily defended airspace. Should Trump approve the sale of the highly sophisticated weaponry to Zelensky, military targets in Russia’s two major cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, would be well within range for Ukraine.  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Oct 17, 2025 9:35 PM UTCPublished: Oct 17, 2025 6:31 PM UTC Days after publicly floating the idea, President Donald Trump on Friday backed off giving powerful [long-range weapons](https://time.com/7326389/tomahawk-missiles-agenda-trump-zelensky-meeting/) to Ukraine, telling reporters and President Volodymyr Zelensky that he had concerns about depleting the US supply. Trump made the comments during a White House meeting in which Zelensky was hoping to get the full-throated fanfare of Trump announcing increased military assistance on the heels of Trump’s success in reaching a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. As reporters asked the two leaders questions, the public saw Zelensky openly negotiating with Trump, offering to help the U.S. produce more armed drones in exchange for powerful [Tomahawk](https://time.com/7326389/tomahawk-missiles-agenda-trump-zelensky-meeting/) missiles capable of striking deep inside Russia. “We’d much rather not need Tomahawks. We’d much rather get the war over,” Trump said, sitting across the table from Zelensky. “It could mean a big escalation. It could mean a lot of bad things could happen.” Trump originally suggested selling the missiles to Ukraine on Monday, while en route to Israel. After a Thursday night phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Trump sounded more hesitant to give Ukraine more powerful weapons to counter Russia’s ongoing invasion. Trump intends to meet Putin in Hungary in the coming weeks. Trump is growing increasingly frustrated at Putin’s unwillingness to discuss American ceasefire proposals. His [August summit with Putin in Alaska](https://time.com/7309902/trump-putin-meeting-ultimatum-ceasefire-talks/) didn’t lead to a breakthrough. More recently, Trump had indicated he was open to giving Ukraine U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles that can reach deep into Russian territory. But he dialed that expectation back on Thursday after his call with Putin. Ukraine’s military has wanted to add Tomahawk missiles to their arsenal as a way to counter Russia’s ability to strike deep inside Ukrainian territory. The sophisticated American weapons could hit targets in Moscow or St. Petersburg, Russia’s two major cities. During his visit in Washington, Zelensky also met with U.S. defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to discuss Ukraine buying air defense systems, missiles and fighter jets. Such purchases would have to be approved by the U.S. Zelensky is hoping additional firepower would give Ukraine more leverage on the battlefield and convince Putin to come to the negotiating table. Unlike Zelensky’s previous two visits to the White House this year, there was no Oval Office meeting with Trump on Friday. Instead, reporters were brought in at the beginning of a lunch between the two leaders in the Cabinet Room. Trump called Zelensky a “very strong leader” and a “man who has been through a lot.” Trump said the two of them “have gotten along really very well.” It’s taken time for Zelensky to establish a working rapport with Trump, who often spoke dismissively of Ukraine on the campaign trail. Their meeting in February devolved into a shouting match with Vice President J.D. Vance accusing Zelensky of being insufficiently grateful for U.S. support and Trump telling Zelensky he didn’t have “the cards” to negotiate. In the months since that heated exchange, Trump has reversed course and suggested he believes Zelensky can hold off Russia. Trump and Putin spoke on the phone Thursday for more than two hours. Asked on Thursday what he told Putin on the call, Trump said: “I did actually say: ‘Would you mind if I gave a couple of thousand Tomahawks to your opposition?’ I did say that to him. I said it just that way.” “He didn’t like the idea. You have to be a little bit lighthearted sometimes,” Trump said, adding that he would describe his call with Putin to Zelensky when they meet. Zelensky left the White House just before 4 p.m., less than three hours after he had arrived. Recent polling shows increasing support among Republicans for the US to continue arming Ukraine’s defense, a marked shift after an extended period of GOP support lagging behind Democrats. Polling conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found Republican support for sending U.S. military aid to Ukraine increased from 30% in March to 51% in July. That upward trend of support among Republicans appears to have continued. A Harvard CAPS-Harris poll conducted in early October shows 73% of Republicans and 72% of Democrats support arming Ukraine and sanctioning Russia. The poll of 2,413 voters was conducted on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2 and has a margin of error of 1.99%. The same also found that Volodymyr Zelensky is widely liked by Americans at the moment. Of major political figures, his favorability ratings in the October Harvard CAPS-Harris poll were only surpassed by two people: Charlie Kirk and Erika Kirk. ## Transcript [00:00] Well, thank you very much, everybody. [00:01] It's an honor to be with a very strong leader, [00:06] a man who has been through [00:08] a lot and a man who I've gotten to know very well. [00:11] And we've gotten along really very well. [00:14] And we had a big call yesterday, [00:15] as you know, with President Putin. [00:17] And we'll be talking about it. [00:19] President Zelenskyy of Ukraine has, [00:21] uh, has endured a lot. [00:24] I mean, he really has he's endured [00:25] a lot and we've endured it with him, to be honest. [00:29] It's, uh, it's been a long time, [00:31] and I think we're making great progress. [00:34] So we're going to be talking about that today. [00:36] We'll be talking about what took place [00:38] yesterday with my phone call with President Putin. [00:41] And I think that things are coming along pretty well. [00:44] Thank you very much for the invitation. [00:46] Again, my congratulations with [00:48] your successful ceasefire in the Middle East. [00:50] Thank you. Yeah. And you did it. [00:53] And I think this is a momentum [00:55] to finish Russia's war against Ukraine. [00:57] I think that yes, [00:59] we understand that Putin is not ready. [01:03] I think not ready, [01:04] but I think that I'm confident that with your help, [01:09] we can stop this war. [01:11] And we really need it. [01:13] We see that they don't have [01:15] successful steps on the battlefield, and it's good. [01:18] I think that their army is weak now, [01:20] but a lot of losses, [01:22] they have a lot of losses and in economy and people. [01:25] And I think this is very important moment. [01:29] And I think it looks beautiful in [01:30] this jacket. It's a beautiful. [01:32] I hope people notice it's a good [01:34] it's actually very stylish I like it. [01:36] First of all I think we need to sit and speak. [01:40] The second point we need ceasefire. [01:43] Even now, you see, in the Middle East, [01:46] it's very difficult to hold ceasefire. [01:48] Everywhere in every war, [01:50] it's very difficult. [01:51] We want peace. [01:53] Putin doesn't want. [01:55] That's why we need pressure on him. [01:57] We will speak with president today. What we need. [02:01] We understand what we need to [02:03] push Putin to negotiation table. [02:07] And as I said previously. [02:09] So we are ready to speak in any kind of format. [02:11] Bilateral trilateral. [02:13] Doesn't matter. Matter. Just piece. [02:16] This is important. [02:17] The most important thing for people in Ukraine, [02:20] which are under each day's attacks, [02:23] to have really strong security guarantees. [02:27] NATO is the best, [02:29] but weapon is very important. [02:31] Allies on our side is very important. [02:33] And between us, for us, [02:35] bilateral security guarantees between [02:38] me and President Trump is very important. [02:42] I don't know, we didn't speak with details about it, [02:45] but this is the most important document [02:48] because United States is very strong. [02:50] What's going to happen if the United States [02:52] is in a conflict and we need the Tomahawks? [02:56] Well, that's that's a problem. [02:57] We need tomahawks and we need a lot of [03:00] other things that we've been sending over [03:02] the last four years to Ukraine. [03:04] We've been, you know, we gave we gave them a lot. [03:07] Now we have a different situation. [03:08] We send it to the European Union. [03:10] They pay for it and all that, [03:11] and they have plenty of money. [03:13] But we it's beyond the money. [03:15] You know, we need tomahawks, [03:17] and we need a lot of other weapons [03:19] that we're sending to Ukraine. [03:20] One of the reasons we want to get [03:21] this war over is exactly that. [03:24] It's not easy for us to give. [03:26] You're talking about massive numbers [03:27] of very powerful weapons. [03:30] So that's one of the things we'll be talking about. [03:32] Hopefully they won't need it. [03:34] Hopefully we'll be able to get the war over [03:35] with without thinking about Tomahawks. [03:38] Of course we want to finish this war, [03:40] but the war is another technological war. [03:43] You don't use just tomahawks if you [03:45] want to target a military goal. [03:49] You need thousands of drones. [03:51] It goes together with such missiles. [03:53] Ukraine has such thousands of our production drones. [03:57] But we don't have tomahawks. [03:59] That's why we need tomahawks. [04:01] But United States is a very strong production. [04:06] And United States has [04:08] Tomahawks and other missiles, very strong missiles. [04:11] But they can have our thousands of drones. [04:14] That's why where we can work together, [04:16] where we can strengthen American production. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7326698/trump-zelensky-ukraine-tomahawk-missiles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7326698/trump-zelensky-ukraine-tomahawk-missiles/"},"headline":"Face to Face With Zelensky, Trump Waffles on Providing Tomahawk Missiles","datePublished":"2025-10-17T18:31:49.000Z","dateModified":"2025-10-17T21:35:50.000Z","description":"“It could mean a big escalation. 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