Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is apparently appealing to President Donald Trump through his favorite pastime.
Zelenskyy presented Trump with an engraved golf putter from a Ukrainian soldier who lost his leg while fighting in the war against Russia, his office announced on Tuesday.
The New York Post revealed that the club displays the words “Let’s putt peace together!” It was gifted to Trump in the Oval Office on behalf of Junior Sgt. Kostiantyn Kartavtsev, who has found solace in the sport. Kartavtsev has an artificial leg through a rehabilitation program under United by Golf, a Ukrainian veteran organization.
In a statement, Zelenskyy’s office said that golf “became part of Kostiantyn Kartavtsev’s rehabilitation and helped him regain balance – both physical and emotional.” It added that he had lost his leg within the first months of Russia’s invasion in 2022.
Zelenskyy had showed a video of Kartavtsev to Trump “to help Ukraine end the war with a just and lasting peace,” his office said, adding that Trump had recorded a video to thank the soldier.
“I know a lot about golf, and your swing is great,” Trump said in the video, according to The Post.
”It’s beautiful and it’s made with real love, and it’s given to me with real love from you, and I appreciate that,” he continued, joking “Every time I sink a putt, I’ll be thinking of you.”
Zelenskyy had met with Trump at the White House on Monday, alongside other European leaders, where the two discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace deal to end the war. In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump emphasized that American boots will not be on the ground.
“I hope President Putin is going to be good, and if he’s not, that’s going to be a rough situation,” Trump said during his “Fox & Friends” appearance. “And I hope that President Zelenskyy will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility also. The thing is a mess.”
In July, Trump, an avid golfer, had visited Scotland for the opening of his new golf course as part of a five-day trip. The Trump Organization, the president’s family business, owns two other courses in the country: an additional one in Aberdeen that opened in 2012, and another in Turnberry that opened in 2014.
While initially intended to be a private visit designed to promote his family’s properties and play golf, the president had announced a trade agreement with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
A website that tracks Trump’s golfing throughout his second term claims that he has played the sport for 24.1% of his presidency thus far, coming to 51 out of 212 days.
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