0:00
Zelensky and Trump will now go and hold talks behind closed doors after a 25-minute Q&A on camera in the Oval Office
0:08
Lots coming out of that, particularly from President Trump, who did, I would say, 95% of the talking
0:13
He insisted, didn't he, at least twice, that there is a realistic prospect of ending this war
0:18
quite possibly, in his view, after a trilateral meeting, a three-way meeting between him, Zelensky and Putin
0:26
He insisted, despite what quite a lot of Western ysts think, that Putin does want to end the war
0:31
That at least is Trump's assessment. And I got the impression, I don't know about you
0:35
that Trump is desperate to see the back of this war, desperate to be able to say he's brought it to an end
0:40
He said, I thought fascinatingly and slightly bizarrely, that he thought of all the conflicts going on around the world right now
0:46
this would be the easiest one for him to solve. And it hasn't proved to be the case at all
0:52
A couple of little bit of sort of tidbits I thought were fascinating coming from the US president there
0:56
asked directly about the US involvement in future security guarantees. Wouldn't rule out
1:02
wouldn't rule out the prospect of US troops providing some sort of guarantee as part of those
1:09
and clearly suggested that the US would have a role in future security guarantees for Ukraine He previously suggested most of that would have to come from Europe so that potentially a bit of a shift And then at the end the revelation that he spoken
1:23
curious, wasn't it? Intriguing. He's spoken indirectly to Vladimir Putin before the talks today
1:28
and that Putin is waiting for his call after the talks with Zelensky and European leaders today
1:35
And then last but not least, my goodness, this rap at the suit. First of all, Mr President Zelensky, you look fabulous in that suit
1:42
I said the same thing. I said the one that attacked you last time
1:48
I remember that. My first question for you, President Zelensky. But you are in the same suit
1:58
You see, I changed you. Maybe yours is much better. The same reporter that asked or accosted Zelensky last time about his dress code
2:07
pointing out that Zelensky looks good in a suit, trump quipping i said the same thing we will talk more about that and whether kia starmer and
2:16
downing street will be buoyed by what they heard with aggie chambray lbc's political correspondent
2:21
in just a moment fair to say though it went a hell of a lot better than last time 6.29 the time lots
2:27
of your messages coming in throughout that slightly surreal a q a with donald trump not many of them positive it must be said about what you hear hearing Come to those in just a moment First Agi Chombray is LBC political correspondent joining us Agi just to reflect on what just happened over the last half an hour or so
2:43
Fair to say the tone, very, very different from last time Zelensky was in the Oval Office
2:48
And he sort of made sure that was the case by going on a bit of a charm offensive right from the off
2:53
I think that's right. I think it's fair to say that Wladimir Zelensky has been learning from how other European leaders
3:00
have had those interactions with Donald Trump. I mean, honestly, what a difference six months makes
3:05
Looking back at what happened six months ago compared to that is just an absolute world of difference
3:10
And I think it's fair to say Wladimir Zelensky made sure that was the case. He had a few kind of tricks up his sleeve
3:17
He started off by being very, very complimentary of Donald Trump. And even, it's a minor point, but it's important in the grand context
3:25
is the fact that he was wearing this wartime suit. It's not a tie, though, which was reportedly one of the requests from the White House
3:31
So he sort of got along with it in part, but not in whole. He felt like, I think, he needed to have a bit of what he was trying to do
3:37
It looked like a wartime suit as opposed to a real suit. Because the point he made last time he was asked by that reporter, Brian Glenn
3:44
was, we are at war, I will wear a suit when the war is over. but there was this also this kind of brandish which was exactly the same style as the Keir Starmer playbook when he was sat in that very seat in the Oval Office talking to Donald Trump and he brandished this letter
4:00
But it's not for you, it's for your wife. And thanked Donald Trump and his wife
4:05
for sending this letter to Vladimir Putin, being very, very nice about this
4:10
So there was the suit, there was the kind of complimentary tone and also there was the fact that
4:14
and you talked about it just a moment ago, he didn't talk that much. It felt like that was quite careful
4:19
Everything he did, it felt like that was quite careful. But I think part of that is the fact that
4:23
he actually, not everything he says, Donald Trump actually wants to hear
4:27
So the fact that he's not saying things and is being quite careful with what he responds to
4:32
I think is definitely on purpose as well. But I loved the moment of levity as well
4:37
And I think that was completely on purpose when they were talking about the suit and he was asked a question by Brian Glenn
4:42
who asked the question six months ago, why aren't you wearing a suit? and he pointed to Brian Glenn, Vladimir Zelensky
4:47
and said, well, you're wearing the same suit as last time, which elicited laughter from the reporters
4:51
and also a massive smile from Donald Trump as well. So I think he will probably feel that went pretty well
4:57
job done to a certain extent. And it did feel like there was quite a lot of positivity coming out of Donald Trump saying, as you say
5:02
a couple of times, reasonable chance of ending the war. And now the real talks begin
5:06
Aggie, thank you very much. Aggie Chonvra is, of course, LBC's political correspondent
