Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, after criticizing him on the US election campaign trail and expressing doubts about the US ally’s ability to win its war against Russia.
Mr Trump said on Thursday they would meet at 9:45 a.m. (1:45 p.m. GMT) at Trump Tower in Manhattan. Although Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskiy spoke by telephone in July, it will be their first in-person meeting since Mr. Trump’s 2017-2021 term.
Mr. Zelenskiy, who is in the United States for the UN General Assembly, met on Thursday with Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, Democratic candidate in the November 5 presidential election.
While the Ukrainian leader was in Washington, Mr. Biden announced a new military aid package of more than $8 billion, while Ms. Harris reaffirmed her support for kyiv and, in a veiled attack on Mr. Trump, accused him of failing to defend his Eastern European ally.
Before leaving kyiv, Mr. Zelenskiy expressed his intention to present to Mr. Biden, Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump his “victory plan” to defeat Russia. But one of Mr. Zelenskiy’s unspoken goals on Friday will likely be to repair his relationship with Mr. Trump, who has at times criticized Mr. Zelenskiy.
Over the weekend, Mr. Zelenskiy visited a munitions factory in Pennsylvania with that state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, a key ally of Mr. Harris. The visit upset Mr. Trump’s campaign and angered some congressional Republicans who viewed the trip as a campaign stop, especially since Pennsylvania is an important state that is expected to decide the U.S. election.
For his part, Mr. Trump has stepped up his criticism of Mr. Zelenskiy in recent days. He said on Monday that Mr. Zelenskiy wanted Mr. Harris to win the election, and on Wednesday he called the Eastern European country “dead” and “broken up.”
Generally speaking, Mr. Trump has refused to say he wants Ukraine to win its war against Russia and has called U.S. aid to Ukraine a waste of money.
As recently as Thursday, people close to Mr. Trump and his campaign said a meeting seemed extremely unlikely, although the former president apparently changed his mind during Mr. Zelenskiy’s stay in the country.
Meetings between presidential candidates and foreign leaders have already taken place during previous election campaigns. In 2016, Mr. Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton both met with the leaders of Egypt, Japan and Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly.
These meetings are no less delicate, because the law limits what candidates can say or discuss during these meetings.
The Logan Act of 1799 allowed non-government Americans to meet with foreign officials, but it also limited their ability to negotiate disputes with the United States.
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