Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is set to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, following a series of campaign trail criticisms and doubts over Ukraine's ability to win its war with Russia.
Trump announced that the meeting will take place at 9:45 a.m. (1:45 p.m. GMT) at Trump Tower in Manhattan. While the two leaders had a phone conversation in July, this will mark their first face-to-face meeting since Trump’s presidency from 2017 to 2021.
Zelenskyy, who is in the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly, met on Thursday with Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate in the Nov. 5 election.
While Ukraine's leader was in Washington, Biden announced a new military aid package of more than $8 billion, while Harris reaffirmed her support for Kyiv and, in a veiled swipe at Trump, accused him of failing to stand up for the Eastern European ally.
Before leaving Kyiv, Zelenskyy had expressed his intention to present his "victory plan" to defeat Russia to Biden, Harris and Trump. Among his unspoken goals on Friday is likely patching up his relationship with Trump, who has at times been critical of Zelenskyy.
Over the weekend, Zelenskyy traveled to a munitions factory in Pennsylvania with that state's Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, a key Harris ally. The visit upset Trump's campaign and enraged some congressional Republicans who viewed the trip as a campaign stop, particularly since Pennsylvania is a key battleground state expected to help decide the U.S. election.
Trump, for his part, has intensified his criticisms of Zelenskyy in recent days. He said on Monday that Zelenskyy wanted Harris to win the election, and on Wednesday, he called the Eastern European nation "dead" and "demolished."
Generally, Trump has declined to say he wants Ukraine to win its war with Russia and has characterized U.S. aid to Ukraine as a waste of money.
As late as Thursday, people close to Trump and his campaign said a meeting seemed extremely unlikely, though the former president apparently changed his mind during Zelenskyy's stay in the country.
Meetings between presidential candidates and foreign leaders have occurred during previous election campaigns. In 2016, Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton both met with leaders of Egypt, Japan and Ukraine during that year’s U.N. General Assembly.
However, such encounters remain sensitive, as the law limits what candidates can say or discuss during these meetings.
The 1799 Logan Act permits Americans outside the government to meet with foreign officials, but it limits their ability to negotiate U.S. disputes.