Donald Trump says he will ‘probably’ meet with Zelenskiy next week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would “probably” meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who will be in the United States next week to address a U.N. Security Council meeting on Russia’s war in his country.

“Probably, yes,” Mr. Trump said when asked by a reporter whether he would meet with the Ukrainian leader. Mr. Trump did not elaborate.

In recent months, other world leaders who have traveled to the United States for summits and meetings with President Joe Biden have also ended up meeting with Trump. Trump will face Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election on November 5.

Zelenskiy said in August that he wanted to present a peace plan to Biden, Harris and Trump. Although Trump and Zelenskiy spoke by phone in July, they have not spoken in person since Trump was in office from 2017 to 2021.

Trump has consistently described US aid to its Eastern European ally as a waste of money and has refused to say he wants Ukraine to win.

Trump is scheduled to attend an event alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda in the key swing state of Pennsylvania this weekend.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Costas Pitas and Ross Colvin)