Trump says he will meet Zelensky despite campaign criticism

Donald Trump has agreed to a last-minute gathering with President Volodymyr Zelensky contempt repeatedly criticising him connected the US run trail.

The Republican statesmanlike nominee told a quality league that the Ukrainian person volition sojourn Trump Tower connected Friday, conscionable days aft Trump criticised him for refusing to "make a deal" with Moscow.

The erstwhile US president appears to person changed his caput aft earlier reports from his run said a gathering betwixt the 2 was highly unlikely.

The brace person endured a tumultuous relationship. Trump was impeached successful 2019 implicit accusations that helium pressured Zelensky to excavation up damaging accusation connected the Biden family.

A unsmooth transcript of the telephone revealed Trump had urged Zelensky to analyse Biden, arsenic good arsenic Biden's son.

Since Russian launched its full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022, Trump has often repeated Moscow's talking points astir the war. During September's statesmanlike statement helium sidestepped a question connected whether helium wanted Ukraine to look victorious successful the conflict.

Announcing the gathering with the Ukrainian leader, Trump repeated his long-standing assertion that helium he would beryllium capable to "make a deal" betwixt Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky "quite quickly".

But the erstwhile president declined to delve into the specifics of his plan. He besides refused to elaborate erstwhile asked whether helium believes Ukraine should cede territory to Russia arsenic a means of ending the war.

"It's a shame what's happening successful Ukraine. So galore deaths, truthful overmuch destruction. It's a horrible thing," Trump told reporters successful New York connected Thursday.

On Thursday night, Trump posted a screenshot of a substance connection from President Zelensky - passed connected by Ukraine's lawman ambassador to the US. In it, the Ukrainian person requested a gathering with the ex-president and said it was "important for america to person a idiosyncratic interaction and to recognize each different 100%".

Friday's gathering comes amid hostility betwixt Zelensky and the Republican enactment up of November's US statesmanlike election.

Some Republicans were angered by Zelensky's sojourn to an arms mill successful Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, with apical Democrats, including authorities Governor Josh Shapiro, earlier this week.

Zelensky's travel to the cardinal plaything authorities was labelled by starring Republicans arsenic a partisan run event. In a nationalist letter, talker of the US House Mike Johnson said the sojourn was "designed to assistance Democrats" and claimed it amounted to "election interference".

Trump has grown progressively captious of continued US backing for Ukraine, and successful caller days has sharpened his attacks against Zelensky, calling him the "greatest salesman connected Earth".

In contrast, Zelensky precocious told the New Yorker mag that helium believes Trump "doesn't truly cognize however to halt the war".

When asked astir Zelensky's comments connected Thursday, Trump replied: "I bash judge I disagree with him. He doesn't cognize me."

On Thursday, Zelensky met US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris astatine the White House to sermon his "victory plan", which helium hopes volition unit Russia into agreeing a diplomatic extremity to the war.

Hours before, Biden had announced a further $7.9bn (£5.9bn) bundle of subject assistance to Ukraine.

As Zelensky visited the US, drone attacks continued successful Ukraine. On Thursday night, 3 radical were killed and 14 others wounded successful a Russian drone onslaught connected Izmail, a larboard metropolis connected the River Danube.

Russia has targeted Izmail’s atom export facilities successful the past, nevertheless prosecutors accidental 2 boys aged 3 and 13, and a miss aged 14, were among those wounded successful the latest attack.

Romania’s defence ministry said it was imaginable that 1 of the Russian drones progressive successful the onslaught had crossed the borderline into Romania, a Nato subordinate state, for a precise abbreviated period.