Trump says ‘tremendous bad blood’ between Zelenskyy, Putin delaying peace deal

President Donald Trump said Friday that “tremendous bad blood” between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin is delaying a peace deal in Ukraine, despite the administration’s recent victory in calming tensions in Gaza.

“They have tremendous bad blood. That’s really what I think is holding up a deal. I think we’ll get it done,” Trump said Friday.

“We need tomahawks and we need many other things that we have sent to Ukraine over the last four years,” the president added.

The meeting between Trump and Zelensky, announced earlier this week, came a day after a phone call between Trump and Zelensky Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Zelensky has made it clear that his main goal is to improve Ukraine’s defenses in the face of Russia’s constant airstrikes on civilian targets such as cities, energy infrastructure and hospitals, and his biggest target is the American Tomahawk missile.

With the ability to hit even beyond Moscow, the long-range, high-precision cruise missile could increase Ukraine’s ability to push further into Russia and better target not only its military complex but also its oil industry, which has largely funded Putin’s war chest.

After his phone call with Putin on Thursday, Trump said “great progress” had been made, but he gave no details on how the progress was made. However, the two agreed to meet in person again, this time in Hungary.

Although Trump said the pair discussed U.S.-Russia trade, he did not say whether this included U.S. aid to Ukraine discussed what appeared to be the trigger for the call earlier this week, when he told reporters he might need to talk to Putin about whether he wanted U.S. tomahawks near his borders in what appeared to be an implicit threat.

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But neither tomahawks nor defense assistance were mentioned in the president’s report on the talks.

However, according to Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, the issue was discussed and rejected by Putin.

“Vladimir Putin reiterated his thesis that tomahawks would not change the situation on the battlefield, but they would cause significant damage to relations between our countries. Not to mention the prospects for a peaceful solution,” he told reporters following the call, according to Reuters.

Zelensky wrote in a post on X on Thursday: “Nothing has changed for Russia – it still terrorizes life in Ukraine.”

“That’s why every air defense system is important for Ukraine – it saves lives. Every decision that can strengthen us brings the end of the war closer,” he added.

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Zelensky’s visit to the White House on Friday was his third this year. In his First visit in February, Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelensky exchanged blows during their meeting.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.