Trump says he's doubtful Ukraine can win the war with Russia as he prepares for Putin meeting

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that while he thinks it is possible that Ukraine can defeat Russia, he's now doubtful it will happen.

The comments from Trump added a fresh layer of skepticism toward Kyiv as he plans to meet again in the coming weeks with Russian President Vladimir Putin for face-to-face talks in Budapest, Hungary, on ending the war.

“They could still win it. I don’t think they will, but they could still win it,” Trump told reporters on Monday at the start of a White House meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Trump last month reversed his long-held position that Ukraine would have to concede land and could win back all the territory it has lost to Russia.

But after a lengthy call with Putin last week followed by a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump made another reversal and called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” and end their brutal war.

Asked on Monday about his whiplashing opinion on Kyiv's position, Trump offered the dour assessment about Ukraine's chances. He added, “I never said they would win it. I said they could. Anything can happen. You know war is a very strange thing.”

Earlier Monday, Zelenskyy said that during the White House meeting Trump informed him that Putin’s maximalist demand — that Ukraine cede the entirety of its eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions — was unchanged.

Still, Zelenskyy described the meeting as “positive,” even though Trump also rebuffed his request for long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

In public comments in the weeks leading up to his meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump had appeared to warm to the possibility of sending the Tomahawks, which would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian territory.

But the U.S. leader's tone changed after his latest call with Putin and he made clear that he was reluctant to send Ukraine the missile system, at least for the time-being.

“In my opinion, he does not want an escalation with the Russians until he meets with them,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Sunday. His comments were embargoed until Monday morning.

Zelenskyy also expressed skepticism about Putin’s proposal to swap some territory it holds in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions if Ukraine surrenders Donetsk and Luhansk, saying the proposal was unclear. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions make up the Donbas.

Ukraine's leader said Trump ultimately supported a freeze along the current front line.

“We share President Trump’s positive outlook if it leads to the end of the war,” Zelenskyy said, citing “many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with him and his team.”

Zelenskyy was diplomatic about his meeting with Trump despite reports that he faced pressure to accept Putin’s demands. The meeting followed the disastrous Oval Office spat on Feb. 28 when the Ukrainian president was scolded on live television for not being grateful for U.S. support.

Zelenskyy said he hopes that Trump's meeting in the coming weeks with Putin in Hungary — which does not support Ukraine — will pave the way for a peace deal.

Zelenskyy said he has not been invited to attend but would consider it if the format for talks were fair to Kyiv.

He also took a shot at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, saying he does not believe that a prime minister “who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians or even provide a balanced contribution.”

Zelenskyy said he thinks that all parties have “moved closer” to a possible end to the war.

“That doesn’t mean it will definitely end, but President Trump has achieved a lot in the Middle East, and riding that wave he wants to end Russia’s war against Ukraine,” he added.

Ukraine is hoping to purchase 25 Patriot air defense systems from U.S. firms using frozen Russian assets and assistance from partners, but Zelenskyy said procuring them would require time because of long production waits. He said he spoke to Trump about help procuring them more quickly, potentially from European partners.

Zelenskyy said the United States is interested in bilateral gas projects with Ukraine, including the construction of an LNG terminal in the southern port city of Odesa. Other projects of interest include those related to nuclear energy and oil.

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Madhani reported from Washington.

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Follow the news at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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An earlier version of this story has been corrected to show that the referenced Trump-Zelenskyy meeting in the Oval Office was on Feb. 28, not in March.