Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will have to like a U.S.-backed peace plan to halt Russia’s invasion and ultimately approve it, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday (November 21, 2025).

Mr. Trump, speaking in the Oval Office after a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, repeated that he had expected to resolve the war much sooner given his good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding, “It does take two to tango.”

Mr. Trump said the approaching winter, the mounting death toll and repeated attacks on Ukrainian energy plants underscored the urgency of ending the war.

“We have a plan. It’s horrible what’s happening,” Mr. Trump said. “We have a way of getting peace, or we think we have a way of getting to peace. He’s going to have to approve it,” he added, referring to Mr. Zelenskyy.

Washington’s 28-point plan calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join NATO. It also contains some proposals Moscow may object to and requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has previously refused to budge on Russia’s key territorial and security demands, said on Friday (November 21, 2025) the U.S. plan could be the basis of a final resolution to the nearly four-year-old conflict. He said Kyiv was against the plan but neither it nor its European allies understood the reality of Russian advances in Ukraine.

Mr. Zelenskyy warned on Friday (November 21, 2025) that Ukraine risked losing its dignity and freedom — or Washington’s backing — over a U.S. peace plan that endorses key Russian demands.

Asked about Mr. Zelenskyy’s comment, Mr. Trump said he had told Mr. Zelenskyy at an Oval Office meeting in February that the Ukrainian leader didn’t “have the cards” to end the conflict solely on his terms.

“At some point, he’s going to have to accept something he hasn’t accepted,” he said. “I thought he should have made a deal a year ago, two years ago. The ultimate deal would have been if it never started.”

Months of sniping melted away Friday (November 21, 2025) as New York’s incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani and U.S. President Donald Trump were all smiles at a White House meeting — promising to set aside their feud and cooperate on the city’s future.

Mr. Mamdani, a 34-year-old political insurgent who rocketed from obscurity to win City Hall earlier this month, had taken on Mr. Trump in a bruising war of words, likening the Republican to “bad landlords… taking advantage of their tenants.”

Washington watchers were bracing for sparks to fly when the self-described Democratic socialist met the Republican leader who has in turn branded the Mayor-elect a “communist” and suggested the Ugandan-born New Yorker should be deported.

But the Oval Office summit was instead the embodiment of civility as a beaming Mr. Trump, 79, praised Mr. Mamdani’s historic election win, said he could do a “great job,” and called him a “man who really wants to see New York be great again.”

“We’re going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true: having a strong and very safe New York,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Mamdani described the face-to-face as “very productive” and spoke of the leaders’ “shared admiration and love” for America’s financial capital and largest city.

Both men hail from the Queens borough of New York City and both are masters of political theatre — but their styles couldn’t be more different.

The showdown had been seen more as a clash of ideologies, generations and egos than a courtesy call, with Mr. Trump thriving on bombast and grievance as Mr. Mamdani pitches affordability and inclusion.

Oval Office encounters with the brash billionaire often turn into ambush theatre — a lesson absorbed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who endured a public dressing-down by Mr. Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance.

Political analysts had warned that Mr. Mamdani could be walking into a Zelenskyy-like situation. For weeks they had traded barbs, with Mr. Trump threatening to make life difficult for the young political upstart.

Political lightning strike

But Mr. Trump repeatedly offered his support for Mr. Mamdani — even telling reporters it was “OK” for the younger politician to have called him a “despot.”

“I’ve been called much worse than a despot. So it’s not that insulting. Maybe he’ll change his mind after we get to working together,” a conciliatory Mr. Trump said, adding that he hoped Mr. Mamdani would be “a really great Mayor.”

For his part, Mr. Mamdani noted that many New Yorkers had backed Mr. Trump in the 2024 presidential election “because of that focus on cost of living.”

“And I’m looking forward to working together to deliver on that affordability,” he said.

It was all a far cry from the barbs the pair had exchanged in the run-up to the meeting.

Beyond mocking Mr. Mamdani’s South Asian name, the President has dangled cuts to federal funding and even National Guard deployments — a tactic he used against other Democratic cities.

For New Yorkers, that could mean billions of dollars lost and troops on the streets once Mr. Mamdani, set to become the city’s first Muslim Mayor, takes office.

President Donald Trump indicated on Sunday (November 16, 2025) that he plans to meet with New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and said they’ll “work something out,” in what could be a detente for the Republican President and Democratic political star who have cast each other as political foils.

Mr. Trump has for months slammed Mr. Mamdani, falsely labelling him as a “communist” and predicting the ruin of his hometown, New York, if the democratic socialist was elected. He also threatened to deport Mr. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a naturalised American citizen, and to pull federal money from the city.

Mr. Mamdani rose from an obscure state lawmaker to become a social media star and symbol of the resistance against Mr. Trump during his mayoral campaign. He campaigned on an array of progressive policies and a message that was stark in its opposition to the aggressive, anti-immigrant agenda Mr. Trump has rolled out in his second White House term.

The 34-year-old appealed to a broad cross-section of New Yorkers and defeated one of its political heavyweights, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, by nearly 9 percentage points.

In his election night victory speech, Mr. Mamdani said he wanted New York to show the country how to defeat the president. But the day after, while speaking about his plans for “Trump-proofing” New York once he takes office in January, the incoming mayor also said he was willing to work with anyone, including the president, if it can help New Yorkers.

Representatives for Mr. Mamdani did not have an immediate comment on Sunday night on the President’s remarks, but a spokesperson pointed to the Mayor-elect’s remarks last week when he said he planned to reach out to the White House “because this is a relationship that will be critical to the success of the city.”

Mr. Trump expressed a similar sentiment on Sunday.

“The Mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us. We’ll work something out,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he prepared to fly back to Washington after spending the weekend in Florida.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified shortly after that Mr. Trump was referring to Mr. Mamdani and said no date had been set for such a meeting.

“We want to see everything work out well for New York,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump’s comments came as he also said the U.S. may hold discussions soon with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, after a military buildup near the South American country, “I’ll talk to anybody,” Mr. Trump said.