After Zelenskyy meeting, Trump calls on Ukraine and Russia to ‘stop
where they are’ and end the war
[October 18, 2025]
By AAMER MADHANI, SEUNG MIN KIM, MICHELLE L. PRICE and
CHRIS MEGERIAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday called on Kyiv and
Moscow to “stop where they are” and end their brutal war following a
lengthy White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump's frustration with the conflict has surfaced repeatedly in the
nine months since he returned to office, but with his latest comments he
edged back in the direction of pressing Ukraine to give up on retaking
land it has lost to Russia.
“Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War
and Guts,” Trump said in a Truth Social post not long after hosting
Zelenskyy and his team for more than two hours of talks. “They should
stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!”
Later, soon after arriving in Florida, where he's spending the weekend,
Trump urged both sides to “stop the war immediately” and implied that
Moscow keep territory it’s taken from Kyiv.
“You go by the battle line wherever it is — otherwise it's too
complicated,” Trump told reporters. "You stop at the battle line and
both sides should go home, go to their families, stop the killing, and
that should be it.”
The comments amounted to another shift in position on the war by Trump.
In recent weeks, he had shown growing impatience with Russian President
Vladimir Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the
war.
After meeting with Zelenskyy in New York on the sidelines of the annual
U.N. General Assembly last month, Trump even said he believed the
Ukrainians could win back all the the territory they had lost to Russia
since Putin launched the February 2022 invasion. That was a dramatic
shift for Trump, who had previously insisted that Kyiv would have to
concede land lost to Russia to end the war.
Zelenskyy after Friday's meeting said it was time for a ceasefire and
negotiations. He sidestepped directly answering a question about Trump
nudging Ukraine to give up land.
“The president is right we have to stop where we are, and then to
speak,” Zelenskyy said when asked by reporters about Trump’s social
media post, which he hadn't seen.
Another change in tone
Trump's tone on the war shifted after he held a lengthy phone call with
Putin on Thursday and announced that he planned to meet with the Russian
leader in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks.
The president also signaled to Zelenskyy on Friday that he's leaning
against selling him long-range Tomahawk missiles, weaponry that the
Ukrainians believe could be a game changer in helping prod Putin to the
negotiating table.
Zelenskyy at the start of the White House talks said he had a
“proposition” in which Ukraine could provide the United States with its
advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the Tomahawk cruise
missiles.
But Trump said he was hesitant to tap into the U.S. supply, a turnabout
after days of suggesting he was seriously weighing sending the missiles
to help Ukraine beat back Russia's invasion.
“I have an obligation also to make sure that we’re completely stocked up
as a country, because you never know what’s going to happen in war and
peace,” Trump said. “We'd much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We'd
much rather have the war be over to be honest.”
In an interview with Kristen Welker of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Zelenskyy
suggested the door was not closed.
“It’s good that President Trump didn’t say ‘no,’ but for today, didn’t
say ‘yes,’” he said.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to reporters in
Lafayette Park across the street from the White House, following a
meeting with President Donald Trump, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Zelenskyy also said “we need Tomahawks” because “it’s very difficult
just to operate only with Ukrainian drones.”
Trump's latest rhetoric on Tomahawks was certainly disappointing to
the Ukrainians. In recent days, Trump had shown an openness to
selling Ukraine the Tomahawks, even as Putin warned that such a move
would further strain the U.S.-Russian relationship.
Why Tomahawks?
But following Thursday’s call with Putin, Trump began downplaying
the prospects of Ukraine getting the missiles, which have a range of
about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers.)
Zelenskyy had been seeking the Tomahawks, which would allow
Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and target
key military sites, energy facilities and critical infrastructure.
Zelenskyy has argued that the potential for such strikes would help
compel Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations to end
the war more seriously.
Putin warned Trump during the call that supplying Kyiv with the
Tomahawks “won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but would
cause substantial damage to the relationship between our countries,”
according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser.
It was the fifth face-to-face meeting for Trump and Zelenskyy since
the Republican returned to office in January,
The president said Friday it was “to be determined” if Zelenskyy
would be involved in the upcoming talks in Hungary — suggesting a
“double meeting” with the warring countries' leaders was likely the
most workable option for productive negotiations.
“These two leaders do not like each other, and we want to make it
comfortable for everybody,” Trump added.
But Zelenskyy told reporters that the animus toward Putin “is not
about feelings.”
“They attacked us, so they are an enemy for us. They don’t intend to
stop," Zelenskyy added. "So they are an enemy. It is not about
someone just hating someone else. Although, undoubtedly, we hate the
enemy. Undoubtedly.”
Trump, going back to his 2024 campaign, insisted he would quickly
end the war, but his peace efforts appeared to stall following a
diplomatic blitz in August, when he held a summit with Putin in
Alaska and a White House meeting with Zelenskyy and European allies.
Trump emerged from those meetings certain he was on track to
arranging direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin. But the Russian
leader hasn’t shown any interest in meeting with Zelenskyy and
Moscow has only intensified its bombardment of Ukraine.
Asked Friday if he was concerned that Putin was stringing him along,
Trump acknowledged it was a possibility but said he was confident he
could handle the Russian leader.
“I’ve been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out
really well," Trump said. He added, “I think I’m pretty good at this
stuff."
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Megerian reported from West Palm Beach, Fla. AP writer Susie Blann
in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed reporting.
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