Donald Trump said the war in Ukraine would be “resolved very quickly” if he won the US election as he met Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, and touted his “very good relationship” with both the Ukrainian leader and Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president.

The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy had been in question throughout the week, with the former US president criticising the Ukrainian president for “refusing” to make a deal with Putin and members of the Republican party accusing him of siding with Kamala Harris in the race for the White House.

While the meeting was a sign that they are searching for a common understanding of how relations between Washington and Kyiv might change in a second Trump presidency, the former president renewed his push for peace talks with Russia.