U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over lunch in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 17, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, where the two discussed the ongoing response to the Russian invasion and how to end the war.
CNN's White House correspondent Kristen Holmes said that she found one key piece of the discussion "striking" that harkens back to the infamous Oval Office battle between the two men.
Speaking to the anchors, Holmes said, "The one thing I thought was most striking was this, kind of, moment or several moments in which Zelenskyy seemed to correct President Trump. President Trump would say, 'You know, I spoke to Putin. I think Putin wantspeace. I think Putin wants anend to the war.' Zelenskyy says, 'Hedoesn't want an end to the war.Russia doesn't want an end tothe war. We want an end to thewar.'"
Friday, the Ukrainian president was "pushing back on thisnotion," that Putin wanted to end the war, said Holmes.
"The reason why that was interesting to me was because last time we saw a different Zelenskyy, one who had had a bad run-in with the vice president and with President Trump, it had been very aggressive. So we saw a much more docile Zelenskyy, who nodded along to many of the things that President Trump said. You saw alittle bit more pushback herefrom him. But, of course, at theend of the day, he still needs President Trump," she added.
The contrast she mentioned stems from the February meeting, where Zelenskyy repeatedly corrected Trump's facts, and he was accused of being "disrespectful."
Holmes said that after observing the meeting, it seems even less clear what the two men intend to request of Russian President Vladimir Putin in an in-person negotiation.