Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NBC News moderator Kristen Welker that President Donald Trump must get tougher with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Zelensky said he was ready to join their upcoming summit in Budapest, but hasn’t offered anything to discuss.
Someone might suggest Mr. Zelensky become realistic first.
The Ukrainian president told Welker in an exclusive interview taped Friday that Trump needed to apply even more pressure on Putin than he had applied to Hamas.
“Putin is something similar but more strong than Hamas,” Zelensky said. The war is bigger and Russia’s army is the second biggest in the world, he added, “and that’s why more pressure” is needed.
Putin is not Hamas:
NBC: “Does Trump need to get tougher with Putin?”
Zelensky: “Yes. Putin is similar to Hamas, but he is stronger.”
pic.twitter.com/0H4Vn3Soee— BiffBifford™ (@TBifford) October 19, 2025
Putin has warned that supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would be a “qualitatively new stage of escalation.” Zelensky said that Putin is “afraid that United States will deliver us Tomahawks. And I think that he [is] really afraid that we will use” them.
Trump announced after his call with Putin that he would meet with the Russian president in Budapest, Hungary, for a second round of in-person talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky called Putin a “terrorist” during his interview with NBC News, but reiterated his willingness to meet with the Russian president face to face.
Perhaps it’s to sabotage any peace agreement?
He wants a ceasefire while negotiations drag on, and Putin just wants a deal, not more delays.
The Financial Times reports that President Trump wants President Zelensky to accept Putin’s terms but he won’t. Allegedly, there were screaming matches with Trump cursing.
Russia wants the Donbas and Zelensky doesn’t want to give up anything, even conquered lands. Zelensky insists he can win the war. On the other hand, FT says Russia does not occupy the entire Donbas and hasn’t made progress since 2022.
Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said that Putin might be pushing the contentious idea “with a purpose to cause division within Ukraine and undermine our unity.”
Merezhko added: “It’s not about getting more territory for Russia, it’s about how to destroy us from within.”
FT described it as Trump “belligerently” repeating Putin’s rhetoric. If so, it’s because Zelensky won’t give on anything. He has never agreed to cede once inch of land.
Trump is repeating Putin’s terms to get Zelensky to relent on something so he can make a deal. If Zelensky won’t come up with any agreement, he plans to force it. I don’t think he will give Zelensky Tomahawks. He wants the killing to stop.
NEWS
President Trump urged President Zelenskyy to accept Russia’s terms for ending its war in a volatile White House meeting on Friday, warning that Vladimir Putin had said he would “destroy” Ukraine if it did not agree.
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian presidents… pic.twitter.com/BovSxVybp6
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) October 19, 2025
Dictator Zelensky wants Tomahawks to continue war. Tomahawks won’t bring peace, just more death.
Zelensky asked if Trump needs to get tougher with Putin pic.twitter.com/JelKPvkz0V
— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) October 19, 2025
In a dream world the borders of Ukraine would be returned to their pre-Obama position and the Ukraine would have a fair and just duly elected government. In the reality of today’s world we can expect neither and there will remain a strong and threatening neo-Nazi presence in the Ukraine.